Melbourne City Jamu Adelaide United dalam Penentuan Posisi Final

Melbourne City dijadwalkan menjamu Adelaide United di Stadion AAMI Park pada Minggu sore, 26 April 2026, dalam pertandingan penentuan untuk mengamankan posisi tuan rumah di babak eliminasi final kompetisi Isuzu UTE A-League.

Kemenangan dalam laga terakhir musim reguler ini akan memastikan Melbourne City menjadi tuan rumah partai eliminasi pekan depan, sementara Adelaide United berpeluang finis di posisi kedua hingga keenam bergantung pada hasil pertandingan lainnya.

Melbourne City memasuki pertandingan dengan modal kepercayaan diri tinggi setelah meraih lima kemenangan dari enam laga terakhir, termasuk empat kemenangan beruntun yang membawa mereka mengamankan posisi di enam besar klasemen.

Pelatih Melbourne City, Aurelio Vidmar, menurunkan formasi 4-3-3 dengan mengandalkan penjaga gawang Paul Beach serta lini depan produktif yang diisi oleh Elbasan Rashani, Max Caputo, dan Marcus Younis menurut laporan news.ssbcrack.com.

Skuad tuan rumah juga diperkuat dengan kembalinya Takeshi Kanamori ke dalam daftar tim yang diperluas setelah pulih dari cedera, meskipun kepastian penampilannya masih menunggu keputusan akhir tim pelatih.

Di sisi lain, Adelaide United datang dengan rekor tidak terkalahkan dalam sembilan pertandingan terakhir dan akan mengetahui target posisi klasemen mereka sebelum sepak mula karena jadwal pertandingan tim lain berlangsung lebih awal.

Kepala Pelatih Adelaide United, Airton Andrioli, menegaskan bahwa fokus utama timnya tetap mengincar kemenangan tanpa terpengaruh oleh hasil pertandingan tim lawan di pekan terakhir ini.

"We had a good week. We know the importance of this coming game on the weekend, and the preparation was very good for us. It’s just another game. We’re going to finish the season strong. Important game for us. As I said, we prepared well, and we’re ready to go and get a result." ujar Airton Andrioli, Kepala Pelatih Adelaide United.

Andrioli mengakui bahwa Melbourne City merupakan lawan tangguh yang memiliki momentum positif, namun ia percaya pada kemampuan anak asuhnya untuk meraih poin penuh di kandang lawan.

"We’re expecting a tough game. They’ve been playing well, I think they won the last four or five games, so they’ve been having a bit of momentum coming into this game. They’re always going to be a tough opposition to play against. They’ve got good players, they’re the champions from last year, so we’re under no illusion that it’s going to be a tough game. But that’s what we want. We want to play games like this. The boys are building, full of confidence, and we’ve been playing consistently well. We believe that if we go there and play the football that we can play, we can get the result." kata Airton Andrioli.

Kembalinya pemain kunci ke dalam tim juga menjadi tambahan moral bagi tim tamu menjelang laga krusial ini.

"It’s good to have a player like him after being out for such a long time. He’s been around the grounds, change rooms and training, trying to be that sort of leader off the field. It’s exciting to have him back and add something extra to us for those finals." jelas Airton Andrioli.

Kompetisi internal dalam skuad Adelaide United dinilai sangat baik dalam memberikan variasi strategi permainan bagi tim kepelatihan.

"Excellent. I think one of the strongest things you can have is competition – players playing for positions. When you train during the week, you know somebody else is as good as you and knocking on the door to have an opportunity to play. They’re different type of players, so it gives us different variety, different perspective, and we use them according to our game plan." papar Airton Andrioli.

Andrioli menambahkan bahwa mengetahui hasil tim lain sebelum laga dimulai tidak akan mengubah mentalitas bertanding timnya yang selalu ingin menang.

"It is what it is. Ideally you play all those games at the same time, for everyone’s sake. Obviously you’ll know the result before the game starts, but that’s not going to change our mentality. We prepare every week to go and play a football match to win it. That’s what we want to do. We haven’t lost a game for a long time, but in our mind there’s only one thing – we believe in what we do and we want to take every game the same way. That’s not going to change anything for us. We’re going to go and play the football match, and then the rest will take care of itself." tegas Airton Andrioli.

Target utama Adelaide United adalah memastikan setidaknya satu pertandingan final di kandang sendiri guna memberikan keuntungan bagi para pendukung setia mereka.

"It means a lot. We’re very strong when we play at home. We give the opportunity for all our supporters to be here and see us, and we know how important they are for us. They’re the number 12 player. For me, they’re the best supporters in the country. So that’s our goal. As always, we’re fully focused on playing this game, getting the result, and then obviously guaranteeing at least an elimination final at home, or it could be even higher. But as I said, nothing changes for us — we prepare with the mentality that we can go there and win the game." ungkap Airton Andrioli.

Adelaide United diprediksi menggunakan skema 4-2-3-1 dengan J. Smits di bawah mistar dan Anselmo sebagai ujung tombak serangan untuk membongkar pertahanan tuan rumah di AAMI Park.