Paulinho

Fresh from a World Cup campaign with Brazil and a La Liga title with Barcelona, Paulinho’s pedigree is obvious – and so is the reason Guangzhou have spent such an exorbitant sum of money to get him to return to the CSL.

The all-action midfielder was everywhere on Wednesday night, laying tackles, intercepting passes, and making penetrating runs from deep in behind the Victory defence, constantly stretching the visitors’ backline.

Paulinho raced away on the counter to tee up Guangzhou’s third before the break, and never gave Keisuke Honda the time and space to create anything significant on the other end.

Paulinho is a phenomenon – but no less than what you would expect of someone earning in excess of $440,000 per week!

Evergrande’s fans

In stark contrast to many countries across Asia, the ACL is well-respected in China, with attendances often exceeding those for regular league games. 

Tonight was no exception, with local fans filling out the majority of the 54,000-capacity Tianhe Stadium, and providing plenty of colour and noise to boot.

Perhaps Australia could learn a thing or two?