Andreas Kuen ready for ‘amazing’ A-League grand final experience

Playing in a finals series has been something new for Melbourne City midfielder Andreas Kuen, who wants to celebrate his first A-League season with championship glory.

Melbourne City’s Austrian midfielder Andreas Kuen is relishing the prospect of a pro-Victory crowd in Saturday night’s A-League grand final, believing it will inspire him in his club’s bid to win the championship for the first time since 2021.

With the AAMI Park decider already sold out, a crowd of almost 30,000 is expected for the most significant Melbourne derby in A-League history.

The Victory’s larger supporter base means they will have more fans at the grand final, but that’s fine with 30-year-old Kuen, who has been a key factor in City reaching the competition decider for the fifth time in six seasons.

“I like to have a crowd against you – it’s a good feeling on the pitch,” Kuen said.

“It doesn’t matter if fans from the other team are whistling against you. I don’t have any problems with that because it’s always good when the crowd gets involved in a match.

“It’s nice when the atmosphere is good, and as a player, you should want to play in these games.”

The road to the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final 2025 🔥👇

Who will be crowned champions on Saturday?!

📺 Watch it live on Channel 10, Paramount+, 10 Bold (WA only) and 10 Play from 7:40pm AEST. pic.twitter.com/D01WO8IpJr

— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 29, 2025

Kuen said the standard of A-League football was deserving of bigger crowds at matches.

“It’s good to watch and the quality is really good. Every team deserves to have more fans,” he said.

Kuen admits he wasn’t sure what to expect from the competition when he first came to Australia ahead of the 2024-25 season, with the physical nature of the A-League catching him most by surprise.

“It’s a really good league to play in and also a good quality, but I didn’t expect the physicality to be high,” he said.

“The referees, they don’t whistle everything that you’d get in Austria or Greece, where I previously played, so the physicality was a little bit new for me, but overall … Australia has really good football players.”

Kuen has also enjoyed taking part in a finals series for the first time, with most football competitions awarding the championship to the club that finishes on top of the ladder.

City finished in second place on this season’s table but will be the higher-ranked team in the decider after premiers Auckland FC were knocked out of the finals last Saturday by the Victory, who placed fifth on the ladder.

“It’s a great achievement from our whole club. For me it’s something new (the finals),” Kuen said.

“After the league, to go into the finals is something special, and now to be in the grand final is amazing.”

Adam Kersey will be the referee in Saturday night’s A-League grand final. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Adam Kersey will referee an A-League grand final for the first time after edging out fellow Queenslander Alex King, who controlled last season’s decider, and Shaun Evans.

Referees boss Jon Moss said Kersey’s appointment was a “reward for exceptional dedication and hard work over the last 12 months”.

Alireza Faghani, among 35 referees set to take charge of games at next month’s FIFA Club World Cup, wasn’t considered for grand final duty due to his lack of A-League matches this season because of his AFC and FIFA commitments.

Originally published as Andreas Kuen ready for ‘amazing’ A-League grand final experience