ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ title holders Buriram United FC and 2025/26 participants Johor Darul Ta’zim FC secured quarter-final berths in the AFC Champions League Elite with wins over Melbourne City FC and Sanfrecce Hiroshima respectively.
Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge was the hero as Buriram United defeated the Australian outfit 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out after a 0-0 draw in the second leg at Buriram Stadium saw the tie end in a 1-1 draw on aggregate.
The Philippines international kept out spot-kicks from Ryan Teague and Aziz Behich to take Buriram United, who played much of the game with 10 men following Robert Žulj’s red card, into the last eight for the second season in a row and for the third time in their history.
“Everything about the performance shows how together we are as a team," said Etheridge. "I'll take the plaudits for saving the penalties but for 100 minutes my team dug extremely deep to take it to the point where I was able to make those saves.”
Buriram United will be joined in last eight by JDT, who progressed to the quarter-finals for the first time despite losing 1-0 in Hiroshima on Wednesday.
JDT’s 3-1 win in the first leg in Johor was enough to ensure Xisco Muñoz’s team secured a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The Malaysia Super League champions were made to sweat through the final minutes, however, after Kosuke Kinoshita’s 90th minute penalty gave Hiroshima late hope of taking the game into extra-time.
But JDT’s defence held firm through stoppage time to confirm their progress to the finals phase, which will be played in Saudi Arabia from April 16 to 25.
“We have made history – a Malaysian club is reaching the knockout stage, which is something very positive,” said Muñoz. “There are still things we can improve, but I’m very happy, the club showed it can compete at a high level.
“I’m also very happy for the players and the staff because everyone has given everything. It has been a long and demanding season with a lot of travel and we worked very hard to reach this moment.”
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