Tightness of Melbourne squad will see them bounce back
Melbourne Victory defender Adrian Leijer is confident the squad can bounce back from Saturday’s shattering Grand Final defeat against Sydney FC.
The Victory were beaten 4-2 on penalties after regular and extra time finished 1-1 and although extremely disappointed, Leijer says the tightness of the playing group will get everybody through the loss.
“It’s going to take a while to get over it but it’s a great bunch of boys and we’ll be back definitely,” he said.
“We’re a tight unit, we do things together that’s why we’re in a team sport and if one of them misses we all miss. That’s why this group is so good and why we are in a Grand Final.”
The Victory had to leave for Japan just hours after the loss on Saturday night to prepare for their third group stage match of the Asian Champions League against Kawasaki Frontale but Leijer admitted it was part of being a professional footballer and was hoping to atone for the Grand Final loss with a good performance.
“We are professional athletes,” he added. “It’s a massive kick in the guts (to lose) but we go to Japan and if we can get a result there, we lift our heads up and hopefully have a decent ACL campaign.”
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Results & Fixtures
Matches
| Home | Away | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri May 25th | |||
| Gamba Osaka | Sagan Tosu | 2 - 3 | 10:00 |
| Nagoya Grampus | Cerezo Osaka | - 1 | 10:30 |
| Sat May 26th | |||
| Consadole Sapporo | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 1 - 3 | 05:00 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Vegalta Sendai | 3 - 2 | 05:00 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Yokohama F. Marinos | 05:00 | |
| Júbilo Iwata | Omiya Ardija | 07:00 | |
| Vissel Kobe | Kashima Antlers | 1 - 2 | 08:00 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Albirex Niigata | 09:30 | |
| Tokyo | Urawa Reds | 1 - 1 | 10:00 |
Tables
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegalta Sendai | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 27 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 13 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 25 |
| Jubilo Iwata | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 24 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 23 |
| Urawa Reds | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 22 |
| Tokyo | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 22 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 13 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 22 | |
| Sagan Tosu | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 20 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Kashima Antlers | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 17 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 17 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 17 | |
| Nagoya Grampus | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | -2 | 17 |
| Vissel Kobe | 13 | 5 | 8 | -5 | 15 | |
| Omiya Ardija | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -11 | 15 |
| Gamba Osaka | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -10 | 9 |
| Albirex Niigata | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -12 | 9 |
| Consadole Sapporo | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | -19 | 4 |
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