SINGAPORE -- In a season where they have already shone brightly on the international stage, BG Tampines Rovers started Wednesday evening top of Group A in the ASEAN Club Championship -- officially known as the 2025-26 Shopee Cup.
On the contrary, Buriram United, winners of the tournament last season, surprisingly found themselves fifth in the six-team group -- following an unconvincing start of three draws to their regional campaign.
But after 90 minutes or so at Jalan Besar Stadium, there was no mistaking who the defending champions and the hopeful challengers were.
With their stars out in full force, Thai League 1 champions Buriram produced a dominant display away from home to cruise to a 4-1 win as their Singapore Premier League opponents simply had no answer to their quality.
There was a touch of fortune in the way the visitors edged ahead in the 32nd minute when Suphanat Mueanta found space down the right and fired away a speculative effort from the edge of the box, which took a wicked deflection off Dylan Fox to loop over a hapless Syazwan Buhari.
Still, few would have argued that Buriram were not deserving of the lead given they had largely been in the ascendancy from the opening whistle.
It was after the break, however, where they really turned on the style.
Eight minutes after the restart, the prolific Guilherme Bissoli doubled their lead when he was left with a simple tap-in at the far post after being picked out unmarked by a trademark Theerathon Bunmathan pinpoint left-wing delivery.
Bissoli then made it 3-0 in the 70th minute with a penalty that had just enough power to find the back of the net even though Syazwan had guessed the right way and gotten some of his body in the way of the attempt, after Shuya Yamashita had fouled Kenny Dougall inside the area.
And, with two minutes remaining in regulation time, Goran Čaušić completed the rout when he ghosted in behind Fox to meet an inch-perfect cross from Peter Žulj with a deft header into the back of the net.
Tampines did pull one back in injury-time when Taufik Suparno could not miss with a point-blank range header after being found by Joel Chew's visionary over-the-top ball, but it would be a mere consolation on an evening where they were well and truly second best.
Of course, there is no shame in losing to Buriram -- even by such a margin and manner.
After all, Buriram are widely regarded as one of the leading sides in Southeast Asian football. They are arguably the standard bearers, especially given how they have consistently bettered the other challengers to the throne -- Johor Darul Ta'zim -- in recent head-to-head encounters.
Tampines can have legitimate hopes that they are on the right path to get there. They have shown this season in both the ASEAN Club Championship, as well as the AFC Champions League Two -- where they performed admirably to reach the knockout round, that they can match it with some formidable opponents on their day.
But, on Wednesday, they were given a stark reminder on the ground they still have to make up.
Given how tight Group A has been, Tampines have now fallen to fourth with Buriram above them only on their head-to-head record -- essentially Wednesday's result.
Both must win their final group-stage encounters next week to stand any chance of qualifying for the semifinals.
For Buriram, it is -- on paper -- a tie they should comfortably be winning, against bottom side DH Cebu -- who only have a point from four outings to show for their efforts. If they play like they did on Wednesday, those crucial three points should be in the bag.
For Tampines, they have a far-more daunting task -- an away trip to Công An Hà Nội, who -- like Buriram -- have not been as dominant as most might have expected after they reached last season's decider and only lost out on penalties after a thrilling 5-5 aggregate draw.
CAHN will have shortage of incentive to claim the win for their own qualification hopes, and they remain a formidable outfit littered with Vietnam internationals along with some quality imports.
How Tampines respond another one of the region's leading teams, after being given a reality check by another, will determine if they will have more joy on the international stage -- this time on the regional front.