Newly crowned Thai League 1 champions Buriram United take a massive 3-1 advantage into the second leg of the Asean Club Championship or Shopee Cup semi-final against BG Pathum United Wednesday.
The clubs will face off at Pathum Thani Stadium aiming to advance to the decider, where the winners will meet Cong An Ha Noi following the Vietnamese side's 2-1 aggregate win over PSM Makassar of Indonesia last week.
Holding a two-goal advantage from the first encounter, the Thunder Castle will take the field as favourites to advance although Osmar Loss' side are struggling to tackle a demanding schedule.
Buriram suffered a 3-0 defeat in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite to eventual champions Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia in Jeddah last week, but they returned home to clinch a fourth consecutive Thai League 1 title last Wednesday.
The northeastern giants also recorded a 1-0 win over Chanthaburi on Saturday to book their place in the semi-finals of the Thai FA Cup.
Standing in their way in the Shopee Cup semi-finals will be fellow Thai League 1 club Pathum United, who have endured an inconsistent run since the teams met in the first leg in Buri Ram.
Loss said: "We have played Pathum four times this season, but they have changed their coaches three times. We'll have to re-assess our tactics for this game again because they are under a different coach now."
The Rabbits drew 4-4 in their final Thai League 1 match of the season against Sukhothai on April 27, a result that confirmed them as third-place finishers in the league, 17 points behind Buriram United.
Pathum will also take on Buriram United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.
The 2024-2025 Shopee Cup is the first edition of the regional club competition, which brings together the leading clubs from across Southeast Asia.
The second leg of the semi-final will kick off at 7.30pm Wednesday night.
Buriram United players attend a training session. BURIRAM UNITED