Jeonbuk motor past Victory1:47
Football: Melbourne Victory have missed the chance to make their first Asian Champions League quarter-final, going down to Jeonbuk.
UNTIL Melbourne Victory gets another crack at Asian Champions League glory, the club’s players and officials alike will be wondering “what if?”
Having come so close to making it through to the quarterfinals, so many near misses in the 3-2 Round of 16 aggregate loss to Jeonbuk Motors will be playing on the players’ minds in the coming months.
Besart Berisha’s headed miss from point blank range shortly after half time at AAMI Park last week is one, Archie Thompson’s double goal-line chance in just the fourth minute in Jeonju last night is another.
Archie's unlucky double miss0:38
ACL: Melbourne Victory veteran Archie Thompson couldn't find the back of the net despite having two cracks at it in the second leg of his side's round of 16 ACL clash with Jeonbuk.
Such is life in the game of football, but when Brazilian star Leonardo majestically puts paid to Victory’s hopes with three clinical finishes across the two legs you know the real difference between the best the A-League and the K-League have to offer.
It’s the finishing.
So that’s all she wrote for Victory in season 2015-16.
Leonardo's stunning free kick1:09
ACL: Jeonbuk's Leonardo scores off a stunning free kick in the second leg of his side's round of 16 ACL clash against the Melbourne Victory.
It’s a difficult campaign to assess given the FFA Cup triumph and making the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time are massive positives, but the sixth-placed finish in the league underwhelmed.
One thing is for sure however, this Victory side that has been so settled for the past two seasons is about to get a distinctive makeover.
Archie Thompson (released) and Matthieu Delpierre (retired) are gone, so too is Gui Finkler - not included in the Champions League squad - as he joins Kosta Barbarouses in defecting to Wellington.
Expect a handful of fringe players to also be let go in the coming days.
Kevin Muscat will have at least three foreign spots to play with - if not four should Berisha become an Australian in the coming months - so the coach’s off-season will be spent busily scouting overseas markets.
The players’ holidays start on Friday and those that remain at Victory will return about three or four weeks before July’s International Champions Cup match with Juventus at the MCG.
But for Muscat and co, the rebuilding work begins now.
