Asani, the tournament’s joint-top scorer with seven goals, believes the competition debutants must avoid making the mistakes that saw them concede goals to Yuya Osako and Haruya Ide in nine first half minutes to allow the J1 League side to take control of the tie.
“We had done very well this week, but Kobe are very good,” said the Albania international. “You have to be full focused on the game, for 95 minutes, and if you’re not 100 percent focused then a team like Kobe can have two crosses and score two goals.
“It’s important for us to prepare for next week, to see what the problem was in this game and I hope to be able still to go through.
“The AFC Champions League Elite is not easy. We need to be focused. Every game is important and if for one second you’re not focused then you can give away a chance to score. I hope our players will learn from this and we can prepare well for the next game.
“We have changed a lot of players since last year so it’s not been easy. These players are young and it’s hard against big clubs, the mentality is important.
“But we can still go through to the next round, we’re playing in our home with our fans and I hope it will be a good game. We will have to play the game of our lives to go through to the next round.”
Gwangju impressed in the league phase as the club made their first appearance at continental level, handing Yokohama F Marinos, last year’s runners-up, a 7-3 defeat in their opener before also picking up wins over Kawasaki Frontale and Johor Darul Ta’zim.
Their perfect start in the group phase was ended by a 2-0 defeat in Kobe in November but a further win against Shanghai Shenhua put Gwangju in a strong position to advance to the knockout rounds.
Asani’s form, in particular, has been a key driver behind the club’s progress to the last 16.
He netted seven times in the opening five rounds to make the early running on the scoring charts and, although the 29-year-old is yet to strike since play resumed in February, he sits beside Salem Al Dawsari and Anderson Lopes as the competition’s most prolific marksmen.
And while Gwangju face an uphill battle to progress to the quarter-finals after their loss in Kobe on Wednesday, Asani remains confident he can still add to his tally and help his team through.
“Can I be top scorer? Why not!” he said. “If I score we can go through to the next round and for us that would be making history.
“Everyone knows the first half wasn’t good and we have to check our defence and be ready. Many players are waiting to play in this AFC Champions League Elite and being at home next week, we will play 100 percent and give everything.”
