The rivalry reached a new level when Victory skipper Kevin Muscat was red carded for an unacceptable tackle on young Heart player Adrian Zahra.

Melbourne Victory started their pre-season by signing former Socceroos keeper Michael Petkovic from Sivasspor,[2] promoted Diogo Ferreira, Petar Franjic and Sebastian Mattei from the youth team[3][4] and with Archie Thompson sidelined with a long term injury, Ricardinho was officially unveiled as Melbourne Victory's international marquee player from Oeste Futebol Clube, where he signed a two-year deal and was handed the number 9 shirt.

On 20 February 2011, Gold Coast United's Dino Djulbic 90+1 header bundled Melbourne Victory out of the championship race with a stunning 1–0 win in sweltering conditions at Skilled Park.

[11] Melbourne Victory were drawn into Group E in the 2011 AFC Champions League along with Jeju United, Gamba Osaka and sister city team Tianjin Teda.

[17] Assistant coach Aaron Healey joined the casualty list of the post-Merrick era the following week, as the club sought to reinvent itself as the pre-eminent football force in Australia.

The club ended weeks of speculation on 11 March 2011 by officially confirming that they had signed attacking midfielder Marco Rojas for the upcoming season, securing him on a two-year deal.

[22] Ricardinho was not selected as one of the five foreign imports for Melbourne's 2011 AFC Champions League campaign, and as a result was loaned to Campeonato Brasileiro Série B club Paraná Clube until 31 December 2011.