Shandong Luneng assistant coach Ma Baogang said AFC Champions
League rules should be changed after the Chinese champions were
knocked out despite losing only one of their six matches.
Shandong lost 3-0 at Seongnam Chunma in their final group match
on Wednesday to drop out of Asia's top club competition before the
knockout stages because of their head-to-head record against the
South Korean champions.
"We feel sorry about Champions League's rules," Ma, assistant to
Ljubisa Tumbakovic, told the club's official Web site.
"We only lost one of the six matches in the group stage but we
were eliminated. We hope AFC can change the rules to give more
opportunities for more teams to showcase their power."
Shandong had led the group throughout the campaign and only
needed to avoid losing by more than one goal to go through to the
quarter-finals on Wednesday.
"None of us wanted to see such a result," Luneng's general
manager Han Gongzheng said. "I apologise in particular to our
fans."
China's other entry, Shanghai Shenhua, thrashed Indonesia's
Persik Kediri 6-0 in their final match, but it was their only
victory in the competition and they finished bottom of their
group.
(China Daily via Reuters May 25, 2007)