United Football League champion Global and league runner-up Ceres-Negros begin their AFC Cup campaigns on Tuesday night with both teams expecting a tougher road to the knockout stages from previous years.
With the AFC adapting a new format where only the No. 1 team in the group advances to the next round, the two Filipino clubs are hard pressed to pick up maximum points from their opening matches.
Global battles Magwe of Burma (Myanmar) in Group G at Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila, while Ceres opens its bid on the road against Hanoi FC in a Group F clash at the Vietnamese capital.
Global captain Misagh Bahadoran feels the club is better equipped to contend in the AFC Cup after failing to get past the group stage two years ago.
“Every loss makes you stronger,” said Bahadoran. “We lost two years ago and we were new to the AFC Cup, but now we know what it takes to compete in this tournament.”