Melbourne Victory face Thể Công–Viettel in the AFC Champions League Two.
The Club is poised to make its competition debut against the V.League 1 runners-up at Hang Day Stadium on Wednesday, September 16, kick-off 10:15pm AEST.
Giovanni Savarese’s side’s preparations for the 2026/27 season, which include embarking on this ACL Two adventure, have gone swimmingly to date, with the Boys in Blue already one game from silverware after recently progressing to next month’s Australia Cup Final.
Victory has also recorded pre-season wins over Caroline Springs George Cross, St Albans Dinamo and Oakleigh Cannons, showing real early promise under the Venezuelan Head Coach appointed during the off-season.
Supporters in Australia can watch the Match Day 1 fixture live on Paramount+.
The Boys in Blue
Following nine appearances in the AFC Champions League Elite, Melbourne Victory, courtesy of last season’s A-League ranking, gets its home-and-away round-robin AFC Champions League Two Group E effort underway in Hanoi.
Giovanni Savarese’s men were paired with their first opponents, Thể Công–Viettel (Vietnam), FC Seoul (South Korea) and the preliminary match victor from Persib Bandung (Indonesia) and Manila Digger (the Philippines), of which the former prevailed, during August’s Draw Ceremony.
Since then, the Boys in Blue have shown their prowess in tournament football, winning Australia Cup Quarter-Final and Semi-Final ties against APIA Leichhardt and Sydney FC, respectively.
Striker Harrison Sawyer, who signed in July and scored the last-eight winner after also striking in the Round of 16 success over Western Sydney Wanderers, has been a star of that cup run, along with Keegan Jelacic. The attacking-midfielder also has two goals to his credit, the latest of which kick-started last week’s interstate Big Blue triumph.
Defensively, Victory has been impressive as well, conceding just once in their competitive outings, with goalkeeper Jack Duncan producing a sequence of top saves, including three in the penalty shootout win which eliminated Western Sydney. In front of him, wise head Jason Davidson has been accompanied by centre-back recruits Tom Lockyer and Philipp Ziereis, although concussion rules the German defender out of facing Thể Công.
New signing Guillermo May, unveiled at the weekend, has not travelled to Hanoi for the Group E curtain-raiser.
MD1 squad:
Louis D’ARRIGO, Jason DAVIDSON, Jack DUNCAN, Denis GENREAU, Michael GHOSSAINI, Daniel GRASKOSKI, Matthew GRIMALDI, Brendan HAMILL, Joshua INSERRA, Keegan JELACIC, Franco LINO, Tom LOCKYER, Charles NDUKA, Malik OLUKHALE, Clerismario SANTOS RODRIGUES, Harrison SAWYER, Harrison SHILLINGTON, Xavier STELLA, Jordi VALADON, Jack WARSHAWSKY.
Last time out
Melbourne Victory profited from a fast start to beat Sydney FC in the Australia Cup Semi-Final at Jubilee Stadium last Wednesday. Keegan Jelacic, receiving a perfectly weighted ball from Matthew Grimaldi and shooting first time, broke the deadlock after less than two minutes of action in New South Wales. The advantage was doubled just past the hour mark to confirm Victory’s progression when Charles Nduka forced Jordan Courtney-Perkins to turn the ball into his own net.
Thể Công–Viettel fell to a narrow defeat against local rivals Cong An Hanoi in their second fixture of the 2026/27 V.League 1 season. Former Adelaide United, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City man Stefan Mauk popped up with a 94th-minute winner to settle matters at Hang Day Stadium. Defeat was made worse for Thể Công given they held a man advantage for the final 20 minutes of regulation time, following Đoàn Văn Hậu’s red card.
