Kitchee will face Shanghai Port FC in this season's ACL Group Stage. This will be the first meeting between the teams since the 2014/15 Hong Kong–Shanghai Inter Club Championship.
We asked Huang Yang and Wang Zhenpeng about their experience with the Chinese team.
How do you feel when you know we will face Shanghai Port again?
Huang: I know Shanghai Port pretty well. While we played against them in the Hong Kong-Shanghai Inter Club Championship before, this is a team from my home town so naturally I follow them, and some of their coaches taught me when I was young so I'm emotionally drawn to them.
Wang: It's like meeting old friends again, but they are now more mature and their foreign players are stronger than last time we met.
What happened last time the teams met?
Huang: We lost pretty badly during the Championship and the difference between the teams were obvious.
Wang: Their passing and playmaking was exceptional alongside the switching to flanks back then.
What was their biggest strength back then?
Huang: They are stronger and play with higher tempo. Those were the areas we needed to work on.
Wang: We were younger and less experienced, and we were less effective with the ball. I think our loss was mainly due to a loss of composure after trailing, and they played with such confidence and understanding since they worked together for so long.
What are your goals for the encounter?
Huang: We have improved so much these few years and we did so well in the ACL, so we want to prove ourselves in front of strong opponents from Asia and the fans of the progression Hong Kong football has achieved.
Wang: We will give our best and show on the pitch our progression. This will be a great match for the fans.
What do you expect from the matches?
Huang: I've read news report from Shanghai saying that they got an easy group, so naturally I want to grab points from them and make further progress.
Wang: Obviously we want to win every match, but for such an important ACL game, we will definitely do our best to fight for the win.