On Saturday 9 November, the first leg of the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2019 Final took place at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Urawa Red Diamonds lost 0-1 against Al Hilal SFC (Saudi Arabia). The second leg will be played at Saitama Stadium on Sunday 24 November, where Urawa will need to win by a two-goal margin to be crowned as the ACL champions.

Following their league match against Kawasaki Frontale on Tuesday 5, Urawa made their way to Saudi Arabia, and held a training camp at Riyadh prior to this match. With their first choice goalkeeper, NISHIKAWA Shusaku, being suspended, it was FUKUSHIMA Haruki who guarded the goalmouth, while the team started the same field players from their first leg of the semi-finals.

In a rematch between the two sides who played each other at the ACL final two years ago, it was the home side who took the initiative from the early goings, as Al Hilal utilised the width of the field effectively to keep the ball moving. Led by players like Andre CARRILLO, Sebastian GIOVINCO, and Bafetimbi GOMIS, the Saudi Arabian side showed their dominance in ball possession while taking a total of 23 shots in this match.

Al Hilal came close to scoring the opening goal in many occasions during the first half, as Giovinco struck a shot in the 14th minute, followed by an attempt made by Salem AL-DAWSARI in the 18th minute and Gomis in the 20th minute. In the 29th minute, Giovinco connected with a ball delivered by Al-Dawsari to threaten the Urawa goal, but AOKI Takuya was there to block the shot. Urawa’s goalkeeper Fukushima came up big in the 34th minute, when he blocked a header from Carrillo, who connected with a corner kick delivered from the right side. Four minutes later, Fukushima made another great save to deny the shot taken by Giovinco.

While Urawa was forced to be in the defensive end for the majority of the half, SEKINE Takahiro and FABRICIO combined well with each other to create an opportunity in the 17th minute, but Sekine’s shot was blocked by the opposing defender. Urawa continued to seek for their opportunities from their side attacks but struggled to create major threats with their ace KOROKI Shinzo being marked tightly by the home defence.

After the match entered halftime scoreless, the second half continued to see Al Hilal take control of the match. Despite the persistent efforts showcased by the Urawa defence, the deadlock was finally broken in the 60th minute, when Carrillo connected with a cross delivered by Mohammed AL-BREIK to strike a header into the Urawa goal. The home side almost doubled their lead in the 72nd minute, when Al-Dawsari struck a shot that shook the net, but this play was called offside.

In efforts to level the match, Urawa introduced SUGIMOTO Kenyu to replace NAGASAWA Kazuki in the 75th minute, followed by bringing UGAJIN Tomoya for Sekine in the 85th minute, but couldn’t find their way through the Al Hilal defence as the match ended with a final score of 0-1.

Following the loss, Koroki reflected on the match and said, “It was a very tough match.” Urawa’s striker mentioned that he told his teammates to focus on minimising the damage, as he thought it would be difficult to score goals in this match. “This 0-1 defeat is a positive loss. We will get our payback at our home.”

The second leg is scheduled to kick off at 19:00 on Sunday 24 November at Saitama Stadium. With Urawa winning the title in 2017 followed by Kashima Antlers in 2018, Urawa will seek to take back the ACL title to Japan for the third consecutive year. The winner of this tournament will also earn their spot into the FIFA Club World Cup (11 December at Qatar) as the Asian Champions.

Tournament Dates:
Play-offs: Tue. 5 - Tue. 19 February 2019
Group Stage: Mon. 4 March - Wed. 22 May 2019
Round of 16: Tue. 18 June - Tue. 13 August 2019
Quarterfinals: Tue. 27 August - Wed. 18 September 2019
Semi-finals: Tue. 1 - Wed. 23 October 2019
Final: 1st Leg/Sat. 9 November 2019, 2nd Leg/Sun. 24 November 2019

Tournament Information