Points shared in season opener as Melbourne Victory and Auckland FC play out goalless draw

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

(Auckland FC/Instagram)

When fixtures for the 2025/26 A-League Men's season were announced, tonight's match between Melbourne Victory and Auckland FC was instantly marked down as one of the most exciting games of the season. Following the semi-final from last season, which saw Victory qualify for the Grand Final with a thrilling 2-1 win on aggregate, Auckland travelled to AAMI Park tonight in hopes they could get their revenge. Whatever happened, this game promised to be a classic.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. The first goal never came, and a 0-0 draw was the final result.

It was far from the most exciting game ever, but there were a few small bright spots, especially for Melbourne Victory.

Denis Genreau made his long awaited debut for Melbourne Victory and managed to dazzle for periods of the match, despite attacking flair being a rarity on the night. When Genreau plays for a Victory team that wins 3-0 instead of drawing 0-0, there are no doubts he'll show even more class.

Sebastian Esposito was a rock in defence all night, while Jason Davidson also looked solid in his first game back at Victory.

And then, of course, there's Juan Mata. To the disappointment of many, the Spanish international didn't start tonight's match. But when he did come on in the 68th minute, he showed promise. There's a long way to go, but if he can get back to full match fitness, there's every chance his stint with Melbourne Victory goes much better then his previous one for the Western Sydney Wanderers.

For Auckland, Lachlan Brook impressed on his debut. It seems like Brook will fit into Auckland's system perfectly, and could be a real threat for them as they attempt to repeat last season's premiership.

In goal, Michael Woud impressed with two huge saves to keep a clean sheet. Replacing Alex Paulsen won't be easy, but Woud showed tonight that he might be up to the task.

It wasn't the result either team would've liked tonight. A point away from home against a strong Melbourne Victory side may be far from an awful result, but Auckland's manager Steve Corica still demanded more from his players.

"I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get the three points. All in all we had a couple of good chances to score that got blocked or we didn't put our body on the line to get in the areas and be a little bit more clinical, but now that's an area we can improve on next week. Defensively, I thought we were good."

- Steve Corica on Auckland's performance

As for Arthur Diles, he was proud of the efforts shown by his players, believing that Melbourne Victory have already grown a lot from last season.

"We lost that game last year twice. So for me a lot of positives to take out of that match. We've shown growth as a team. We didn't give anything away. We were disciplined for the whole entirety of the match. And in the end I think we ha the best chance of the match and their keeper made a world class save. There wasn't a lot of chances but the best one fell to us I thought."

- Arthur Diles on Melbourne Victory's growth from last season

Melbourne Victory will return to action next Friday, as they travel to New South Wales to take on the Newcastle Jets, who recently won the Australia Cup. As for Auckland, they'll play their first home match of the season next Saturday against Western Sydney.