Brisbane Roar coach Frans Thijssen says his decision to exclude key imports Jerome Polenz and Jean Carlos Solorzano from their AFC Champions League squad has not disrupted team harmony.
The A-League titleholders will face Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan on Wednesday night in their Champions League opener at the Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium.
They’ll be without arguably two of their most important players in recent weeks – right-back Polenz, who played in the first half of Western Sydney Wanderers’ victorious Champions League campaign last year, and in-form striker Solorzano, who has scored five goals in his last six games.
AFC regulations state teams can name a maximum of three foreign players from a non-Asian nation in their squad, and those spots have been taken up by Thomas Broich, Henrique and Andrija Kaluderovic.
Solorzano is recovering from a hamstring injury and would miss Wednesday’s clash in any case, but Polenz’s omission gives Thijssen a headache on the right side of defence – a position the German has made his own since signing for Brisbane in January.
Thijssen admitted it was a tough call, but said Polenz has taken it well.
“In the end everybody is happy but of course Jerome (would like) to play too,” he said.
“There are still a lot of games coming up for everybody.
“In that position we have more players, and of course we have to make choices.”
Thijssen is likely to look to utility Jack Hingert as a replacement right-back, although he has other options in Daniel Bowles or Luke DeVere.
Thijssen was coy when asked about new signing DeVere, who is yet to make an appearance in his second stint with Brisbane, saying the defender was short of match fitness and had to be handled with caution.
Skipper Matt McKay said the Roar was full of confidence on the back of a three-match winning streak – albeit one that was kept alive by the cancellation of Friday night’s match against Melbourne Victory.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” he said.
“It’s a big competition, we want to be successful, we want to do well, we want to play a good brand of football, we want to win as well.”
Beijing qualified for the Champions League group stage by defeating former Roar captain Matt Smith’s Thai side Bangkok Glass 3-0 last week.
Beijing coach Gregorio Manzano conceded his side is likely to be underdone, with the Chinese Super League not kicking off until next weekend.
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