Japanese interest in the Asian Champions League ended in the group stage again Wednesday after J. League champions Yokohama F. Marinos were beaten 2-1 away to China's Shandong Luneng Taishan in Group F.
Yokohama needed to take all three points against the China Super League side to have any chance of advancing to the last eight and Daisuke Nasu gave it hope by heading Takeshi Okada's men into the lead after seven minutes.
But China international Zheng Zhi eliminated Yokohama by netting twice, with the winner coming deep into second-half stoppage time to book his side's place in the quarterfinals. BEC Tero Sasana tied 2-2 away to PSM Makassar of Indonesia in the other Group F game.
The result saw Shandong take an unassailable lead at the top of the table on 15 points, six clear of Yokohama with just one game left to play. No Japanese team has progressed beyond the group stage since the Asian Champions League was launched in 2002.