Lachlan Avil 
Anas Ouahim in action during the Big Blue. Photo: Marcus Robertson / Round Ball Australia
The Final of the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) is scheduled to be played in the same weekend as the first leg of the A-League semi-finals, presenting a scheduling headache for the APL if Sydney FC were to qualify for both.
The ACL2 Final will be played on Sunday 18 May, which Sydney FC will earn the right to host if they are to qualify past Lion City Sailors – the Singaporian team who progressed in the quarters in controversial circumstances.
Every year, the hosting rights for the one-legged final of the ACL2 rotates between the Champions of the East and West side of the tournament.
This is why the Central Coast Mariners had to travel to West Asia last season for their AFC Cup Final – the predecessor to the ACL2 – on the road to their remarkable treble.
The APL were fortunate with the fixturing of that final, Central Coast playing that match during the weekend of the elimination finals in 23/24, which they had bypassed through a top two finish in the league.
This time around however, the league have not been as lucky, and an APL spokesperson said contingencies are being considered.
“We are finalising our planning for the 2025 Finals Series this month, and a big part of this includes scenario planning based on clubs’ potential finishing position and progression through the men’s and women’s continental competitions,” they said.
“As always we will work with the clubs, venues and broadcast partners to find the optimum solution for clubs to ensure they can compete in both competitions to the best of their abilities.”
Whilst Sydney currently sit outside the finals positions by three points, many consider their superstar power in the likes of Douglas Costa, Joe Lolley and Patryk Klimala as a very convincing argument to say they’ll come good by the end of the regular season.
Given how tight of a season we’re seeing, Ufuk Talay’s side are only four points away from 3rd position, despite currently sitting in 7th.
Just a couple of weeks of good form could take them to a home elimination final and put themselves in the box seat for a tilt at the Championship.
If they do that and get past what will be a weaker than expected opponent in the semi-finals of the ACL2 in Lion City Sailors, then the A-League Finals fixture will be due for a shake-up.