Melbourne Victory FC coach Kevin Muscat is delighted that his side will once again make a return to the biggest stage in Asian football after earning a qualifying berth to the AFC Champions League.
The latest edition of the competition will kick off early next year, and it will be Victory’s first appearance since 2011, but Muscat is adamant that it is still business as usual for the club.
“If you look at it as a distraction it certainly is going to be one but the reality is that we want to compete on the biggest stage,” he said.
“The fact is we’ve got an opportunity to create history and we’ve never qualified for the second round.”
An Asian Football Confederation (AFC) meeting on Tuesday night led to an increase in teams competing in next seasons competition, thus opening up a third position for an Australian club.
Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners were already awarded guaranteed participation (finishing first and second) with Victory entering the competition through a qualification group stage after finishing third in the 2012-13 Hyundai A-League campaign.
“First and foremost we have to qualify for the competition properly so I’m not looking that far ahead by any stretch but when it does come I’m looking forward to it – the opportunity to qualify and then get us through to the second round,” Muscat said.
The former Victory captain was part of the Melbourne Victory side in their inaugural AFC Champions League campaign in 2008, and is aware of the obstacles involved with competing both domestically and regionally.
“Im not going to shy away from the fact that it is difficult to try and compete on two fronts – with finals football and the Champions League but as I said we are a million miles away from both of them at the moment so I’ve certainly not given it any thought what so ever,” he said.
Fixtures, locations and opponents for the qualifying stage will be drawn in Kuala Lumpar on December 10.