PETALING JAYA: Johor Darul Ta’zim’s thumping 6-0 win over Penang in the Super League has whetted their appetite for bigger challenges.
Their focus now turns to the AFC Champions League opener against Buriram United on Tuesday.
The Southern Tigers marked their fifth consecutive win in the league after dominating the match against Penang on Thursday at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, extending their lead to five points ahead of Kuala Lumpur in second.
But JDT head coach Xisco Munoz knows the positive result on home ground would not necessarily translate to wins when the team head for the Buriram Stadium.
“The most important thing for us is to stay fully focused from the first minute (against Buriram United),” said Munoz.
“We need to play with personality and understand the strengths of our opponent.
“We know it will be difficult away from home, but we’re confident our fans will be behind us. We have to give everything for them.”
JDT’s goalfest started early, with Jairo Da Silva scoring a header in the ninth minute.
The goals then kept coming thanks to Arif Aiman Hanapi (18th, 32nd minutes), Joao Figueiredo (33rd), Jon Irazabal (45th), and Antonio Glauder (52nd).
“Congratulations to the players. It was an amazing performance. They controlled the ball, attacked well and created many chances,” said Munoz.
“I’m happy because they followed the game plan at a very high level.
“We just need a little more time to find balance in the attacking third.
“Sometimes we need to be more patient because there were clear chances that we could have taken.”
Munoz added that new JDT players Ager Aketxe Barrutia, and Raul Parra Artal have been finding their groove with the Southern Tigers.
“It’s never easy to step right into the JDT set-up, but they have worked hard to understand what we want. Congrats to them for giving their best on their debut,” he added.
