After a two-month hiatus, the ASEAN Club Championship returns on Wednesday as the highly-anticipated semifinals get underway.

Southeast Asian football's premier club competition, which returned this season after a two-decade hiatus, initially began with ten teams in the running to become champions of the region.

After an absorbing group stage which delivered its fair share of twists and turns, only four clubs remain.

Here, we look ahead at main storylines from the upcoming last-four encounters.

Are Công An Hà Nội still the team to beat?

While they may not be one of their nation's traditional powerhouses, Công An Hà Nội rapid rise has already seen them becoming champions of Vietnam within a year of gaining promotion back in 2023.

That success earned them their spot in the ASEAN Club Championship and, while CAHN have yet to feature in Asian Football Confederation competition, their performances on the regional stage suggest they have what it takes to shine away from just the domestic front.

In what proved to be the dominant display of the previous round, CAHN were the only side to win all five of their matches as they comfortably finished top of Group B -- scoring a tournament-high 15 goals while conceding just five.

They have had a spread of contributors with Brazilian attacker Léo Artur and up-and-coming Vietnam international Lê Văn Đô chipping in with four goals apiece, meaning established stalwarts such as Nguyễn Quang Hải, Vũ Văn Thanh and Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh have not exactly had to do all of the work.

On paper, they will remain favourites to go all the way, which also means PSM Makassar have their work cut out if they are to pull off an upset in the semis.

The Liga 1 outfit initially entered the final day of group-stage proceedings outside Group A's top two.

But a 3-0 victory over another Vietnamese team in Đông Á Thanh Hóa -- coupled with other results going their way -- meant they would leapfrog Terengganu and secure the second last-four berth.

It is worth noting that PSM have not exactly been firing on all cylinders and, since their last regional outing, have won just two of their past six matches as they sit 8th in Liga 1.

Curiously, CAHN actually have a worse record in that time winning just once from six outings, and it will be interesting to see which side can arrest their slump in form when they return to ASEAN Club Championship action.

Who will prevail in all-Thai League 1 clash?

Considering the Thai League 1 is widely regarded as the best domestic competition in the region, Buriram United and BG Pathum United were always expected to be frontrunners for the ASEAN Club Championship.

And while both have indeed made it to the semis, it is safe to say neither were as impressive as many might have expected.

As champions of Thailand in the past three seasons, Buriram were the Group B favourites until they ran into CAHN -- with their only defeat coming at the hands of the Vietnamese, although they did also drop points against Singapore Premier League outfit Lion City Sailors.

Although they have rotated their starting XI at times, Buriram have regularly fielded some of their biggest names and it will still be bold to write them off now that knockout-round football comes into play.

Still, if there is one team that will know how to handle them, it is familiar foes BGPU.

BGPU have yet to taste defeat in the tournament but were held to draws against both PSM and Thanh Hóa, meaning they only sealed top spot in Group A by a solitary point.

Their squad remains formidable yet something just has not clicked for them this season, with the Rabbits hoping the February appointment of American Anthony Hudson as their new coach will breathe some new life into their performances.

The managerial change does look to have made a difference with BGPU losing just one of their ten matches since they were last in regional action -- although that was a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Buriram.

Buriram, meanwhile, continue their march towards more glory having gone undefeated in their past ten outings, which has seen them make progress in a variety of competitions including the AFC Champions League Elite and Thai League Cup.

In their past eight outings, Buriram have not suffered defeat to BGPU, whose last victory over their domestic rivals coming back in August 2022.

Source:
courtesy of ESPN

by Gabriel Tan

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