Pantelis tells FourFourTwo magazine (out today in NSW and next week elsewhere in Australia) that the club has learnt from its first Asian odyssey last season as it looks ahead to its first game on March 12.

“Last champions league campaign we learnt that the little things count,” the Adelaide midfielder said. “We knew that both us and Sydney FC weren't really that far off the pace. Maybe five or 10 percent...

“Tactically they [ACL teams] tend to play a lot more defensive away from home while in the A-League teams come at you. Each team goes for a win whether it's home or away – which is really exciting – but come Asia it's a lot different.”

For the Reds, their toughest test is likely to be this first match when they visit South Korea's Pohang Steelers on match day one in just 13 days.

“We've got to adapt,” Pantelis stressed. “At home we have to play a lot smarter and not just attack for 90 minutes and we've also got to learn how to defend away from home for 90 minutes.”

“We'll be leaving a day earlier this time for our away games - which will help,” he adds. This should help acclimatise to not only extreme weather conditions, but the varying surfaces.

“When we played in Vietnam against Dong Tam Long An, it was like playing on weeds!”

The Steelers – who play at home ground “The Steelyard” - feature a dash of Brazilian influence courtesy of 41-year-old coach Sergio Ricardo De Pavia Farias.

On the park, the coach has fellow countrymen Denilson (number 10) and Clodoaldo as well as a clutch of South Korean talent.

“That will probably suit us seeing we have a number of Brazilians in our side too,” countered Pantelis.

And playing at the Steelyard may also suit the Reds. The stadium, like Hindmarsh, is right up close to the action for the 20,000 capacity and was built specifically for football in 1990.