Exactly three months after their historic Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Two Final appearance, the Lion City Sailors are back in continental action, hungry to build on last season’s success and eager to prove a point.
Standing in their way of a winning start to the 2025/26 campaign are familiar foes Persib Bandung, whom the Sailors face away at the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api (GBLA) Stadium on Wednesday (18 September) night.
Familiar foes, but a fresh look
The two sides crossed paths in last season’s group stage, where Persib held the Sailors to a 1-1 draw at home before snatching a dramatic 3-2 victory away in Singapore with two stoppage-time goals. While those results gave Persib fond memories, they ultimately fell short of progressing to the knockout stage.
This year, however, Persib Head Coach Bojan Hodak has his sights set on going all the way in the tournament, though he acknowledges they face a tough opening fixture against the Sailors.
“The target is to win, so let’s see how far we can go,” said Hodak, who has led them to back-to-back domestic titles. “But tomorrow will be a tough match because they (Sailors) reached the final of this competition last season, and on paper, they are the favourites in our group.
“They’re stronger than last year, but we’re playing at home, so we will try for a positive result, though it will not be an easy game.”
A lot has changed for the Bandung giants since those meetings. While Hodak remains in charge and Dutch-born Indonesian international Marc Klok continues to wear the armband, many key players have moved on.
Notably, all three scorers from Persib’s 3-2 win over the Sailors — David da Silva and Tyronne del Pino, who both moved to Malut United, and Mateo Kocijan, now with Persis Solo — have since departed. Gustavo França, Ciro Alves, and Dimas Drajad (on loan), have all also left the club to join Malut as well.
In their place, Persib have added a strong South American influence to their squad this season, bringing in five Brazilians and two Argentines. Among them is Berguinho, who scored against the Sailors for Borneo FC Samarinda in last year’s ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup, and former Boca Juniors youth product Luciano Guaycochea.
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Between the posts, former Wales Under-21 goalkeeper Adam Przybek was brought in to replace Kevin Ray Mendoza, though Przybek has yet to feature due to injury.
With such a major overhaul, Hodak knows it will take time for his new-look Persib side to fully settle, but he is encouraged by the progress so far.
“We have a completely new squad — we changed 22 players from last season — so we need time to adapt,” explained Hodak. “We’re improving match by match, the new players are starting to understand each other, and slowly the team is gelling. We’re expecting a positive result tomorrow.
“We also have a very packed schedule. Some players are not yet 100 per cent fit, some can only play one half, so rotation is important. This month alone, in 24 days, we have five or six matches.”
New faces in Bandung
August saw another wave of reinforcements, with Indonesian-heritage midfielders Thom Haye and Eliano Reijnders — the younger brother of Manchester City star Tijjani — arriving from the Dutch Eredivisie. French forward Andrew Jung and ex-AS Roma Academy defender Federico Barba also joined the ranks.
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All four made their debuts in Persib’s 1-0 league victory over Persebaya Surabaya last Friday (12 September) at the GBLA Stadium, in front of more than 22,000 fans. That result lifted Persib to sixth in the Indonesian top flight, five points behind early leaders Borneo FC after four rounds.
The GBLA, which Persib returned to last November following renovations, will once again play host to this continental showdown. The Sailors’ last visit was to the nearby Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, but this time, Persib will enjoy the full backing of their home crowd.
Guaycochea underlined the confidence of playing in front of their supporters, but acknowledged the challenge posed by the Sailors.
“It will be a tough match, they have quality players and they know how to play in this competition. But we’re Persib, we’re a big team, and at home we need to deliver a good performance and go for three points,” said the 33-year-old, who is the cousin of current Liverpool star Alexis Mac Allister.
“I’m very excited to play. I came here to compete in the ACL Two, and tomorrow we need to be fully focused. We’ll take it game by game, but we know we have to put in a top performance.”
Sailors fuelled by last season’s run
For the Sailors, their motivation is straightforward — to build on their maiden ACL Two campaign, which ended in a proud but painful final defeat.
Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković is determined to right the wrongs against Persib, but knows the Indonesians will be no easy opponents.
“We’re aware of Persib’s strengths — they’ve brought in many new players, so this is a totally different team from last season,” said the Serb. “It’s also a different game in a different stadium, and tomorrow we’ll see how it goes. They do have the advantage of playing at home and a strengthened squad, but nevertheless, we believe we can get a result here.
“We always look forward to matches like this in the ACL Two. They bring out the best in my players, and the best in my staff.”
The Sailors head into the clash buoyed by the return to fitness of key men Hariss Harun and Bailey Wright, and a strong start to their Singapore Premier League (SPL) title defence, which was capped off by a 5-0 thrashing of Balestier Khalsa last weekend.
With memories of last season’s journey still vivid, Hariss insists the squad is hungrier than ever to create more milestones for Singapore football.
“We’re really excited to start our ACL Two campaign,” said the Singapore captain. “It’s normal that people look at us as favourites (in certain matchups) because of what we achieved last season. We had a good run, but that’s behind us now.
“Last year was a good example of what happens when we come together, keep our heads down, and work hard, and we saw the results. Tomorrow will be another big challenge, but we’re ready and fully focused to get a good result here.”
