Chinese Super League club Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC was eliminated from the 2017 AFC Champions League after a play-off round 0-2 loss to A-League's Brisbane Roar FC at the Hongkou Football Stadium in Shanghai on Tuesday.

The defeat was the competitive debut of Shanghai's $41-million man Carlos Tevez, who was signed by the club in late December from Argentine squad Boca Juniors. Tevez, 33, was expected to lead Shenhua head coach Gus Poyet's 4-2-3-1 attack playing behind striker Obafemi Martins in the no. 10 position.

Like Us on Facebook

The Argentina international also has Colombian midfielder Giovanni Moreno playing as the right winger during the match, but the Flower of Shanghai still failed to score even a single goal against the visitors. With expectations so high, Shenhua fans were disappointed as their squad was "unceremoniously dumped out" of the ACL's play-off round, as per the Mirror.

Brisbane winger Brandon Borello netted the opening goal right in the second minute of the match off a brilliant cross by midfielder Tommy Oar from the left side. Borello then returned the favor by assisting on Oar's shot inside the penalty area for the Roar's second goal five minutes before the halftime break.

Shenhua seemed to have been deflated with Brisbane up 2-0 entering the second half. The team tried to fight back after the restart with Tevez almost scoring one, but Brisbane goalkeeper Jamie Young blocked his shot towards the post.

The loss made Shanghai the first China top-flight squad in 14 years to be eliminated as early as the play-off round of the said tournament. "I feel very, very sad with this result," said Poyet after the match, via ESPN. "The players gave their all, but we conceded the first goal too suddenly and quickly."

"We had so many opportunities today. It is hard for me to understand it. It has never happened to me before. The players were fighting with all they have, so one or two goals would have made sense," he added.

TagsAFC Champions League, AFC Champions League 2017, Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC, Brisbane Roar FC, Carlos Tevez