South zone champion Bengaluru FC was drawn to face Turkmenistan side Altyn Asyr FK in the 2018 AFC Cup inter-zone semifinals, with the Sree Kanteerava Stadium set to play host on August 22 and the reverse leg to be played at the Sport Toplumy Stadium in Balkanabat on August 29.
The AFC club competitions draw was held in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Having qualified for the competition as the Turkmenistan Yokary Liga champion in 2017, Altyn Asyr made its way to the inter-zone semifinals with a thrilling 3-2 last-round win over 2017 finalist FC Istiklol from Tajikistan, which incidentally got the better of the Blues in the inter-zone final in the last edition.
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Currently fourth in the Yokary Liga with four games in hand, Altyn Asyr will be a strong opponent for Bengaluru, which will be led by a new coach after the club announced Albert Roca’s departure last week.
Should the Blues get past the Turkmenistan side, they will be up against either North Korea’s 4.25 SC or the winner of the ASEAN tie between Singapore’s Home United and Philippines’ Ceres Negros, an identical clash from the last edition.
Earlier, Bengaluru FC's chief technical officer Mandar Tamhane was presented with the south zone champions trophy by AFC general secretary Dato’ Windsor John, having topped Group E for the second successive season.
Bengaluru qualified for the knockout rounds of the tournament for a record fourth consecutive season after toppling the Maldives’ New Radiant SC to the summit of Group E.
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