Following a quite surreal competition that has stretched more than 12 months in its entirety, played extensively in sparsely attended neutral venues, the 2022 edition of the AFC Champions League will finally conclude in rather more predictable fashion.
Over the coming two weekends, West Asian champions Al Hilal and their East Asian counterparts Urawa Red Diamonds will face off in a third continental final clash between the pair in six years; with the former heading in search of a record extending fifth Asian title – and a potential third in only four years.
While the Riyadh giants, Asia’s most illustrious club, are familiar faces at this stage of the competition, their run of form heading into the two-legged final is anything but for their fervent fanbase.
A stretch of a modest, by Al Hilal’s standards, five league wins in ten matches since they steamrolled their way to yet another continental final in February, has seen Al Hilal all but theoretically drop out of the domestic title race, with the very real prospect of the club slumping to an all-time low Saudi Pro League finish, albeit only down to 4th.
Their run to the Champions League final, therefore, has been a welcome distraction from their relative struggles at home.
Their safe passage to Saturday’s final was finalised slap bang in the middle of a relentless six-month period for the club, which followed a World Cup “break” which proved to be anything but, having eaten up and spat out the spine of this squad before they returned to club football.
A growingly congested calendar, compressed by rescheduling difficulties, has seen them have to play a match every three or four days over the last few months, alongside an injury list that has inevitably shone a light on how wafer thin their transfer-embargoed squad truly has been this season.
Domestic concerns aside, Al Hilal are continually able to step up to the plate in key periods of the campaign; most notably in their historic run to the final of the Club World Cup in February, and their imperious showing in the latter rounds of the Champions League. Despite this season’s mitigations, it’s difficult to suggest that the club are going through any sort of crisis.
Even after dropping points against lowly Al Tai and Al Batin earlier this month, effectively dumping them out of a domestic title retention bid, victories to derail Riyadh neighbours Al Nassr’s championship credentials and Al Ittihad’s treble hopes in the King’s Cup last week, rekindle the belief that their recent wobbles may be behind them.
Their struggles aren’t new by any means, however they have been increasingly difficult to remedy in a growingly competitive home environment. After all, when Ramon Diaz took over a squad in a very similar shape this time last year, the lack of opportunity to replenish an ageing and increasingly fatigued squad looked destined to end in failure.
However, following a spectacular collapse from Al Ittihad at the final furlong, Al Hilal clinched a record stretching 18th Saudi title, at a canter, finishing with eight straight wins to somewhat disprove their squad’s lack of flexibility.
With the re-emergence of Al Ittihad as a dominant force this season, alongside city rivals Al Shabab and a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Al Nassr, this year has seen the challenge rise a step too far for Diaz to reproduce similar miracles.
The squad’s fragility has also been pushed to its limits this year courtesy of injuries to creative lynchpin, Salman Al-Faraj, full back Yasser Al-Shahrani and creative outlet Salem Al-Dawsari directly following Saudi Arabia’s successful campaign in Qatar.
While their title rivals were able to replenish their stocks in January or instead rely heavily on their overseas contingent to shoulder the burden on their return to domestic football, Al-Hilal continue to look to their Saudi-born stars for that added X-factor in the big moments.
The return of their captain, Al-Faraj, over the past few weeks has been critical in their ACL final preparations. Calm, composed and increasingly flexible now in his prime, Al-Faraj has become growingly capable of floating between holding and more attacking roles in Diaz’s counter attacking approach – his mere presence dictates those around him.
The accompanying return of Al-Shahrani and Al-Dawsari, who have both been able to build up their minutes in the last week, seems all too poignantly timed ahead of the massive encounter with Urawa later this week.
It must be noted also that in Morocco for the Club World Cup and in Qatar for the Champions League finals stage early this year, Al Hilal departed for global and continental glory, respectively, in a similar state only to return triumphant.
Out of sorts at home – having dropped points in three of their six matches following the Qatar World Cup, Al Hilal headed abroad undeterred and single-minded in their pursuit of excellence on the grandest stages.
For Al Hilal, regularly likened to their European counterparts Real Madrid, their players just seem to be able to find another gear in the big occasion.
The often frustrating, yet bullishly effective Moussa Marega was in emphatic form in both runs to the final but has remained on the periphery ever since in the league; while the often-forgotten Luciano Vietto, undoubtedly only remaining at the club until the transfer embargo is lifted, similarly emerged from nowhere in the most crucial moments of both campaigns.
Rather than form then, heading into a ninth AFC Champions League final, what may be more telling, is how their opponents’ Urawa’s approach the clash.
Over the past few months Al Hilal have flourished in their reactive play, whilst occasionally looking quite laboured against sides who set up to defend deeply against them.
Compounded by their recent struggles against weaker opposition domestically, their biggest frustration of late came at the hands of Iranian side Foolad in the Champions League quarter-finals, who very nearly pulled off an historic giant killing, counter-attacking display against the reigning champions.
Considering that lucky escape, Al Hilal’s emphatic 7-0 victory over Al Duhail in the semi-final a few days later probably glossed over any emerging cracks within the team.
The Qatari champions were in many ways the perfect opponent for their Saudi counterparts, offering up acres of space in behind and out wide for Diaz to establish a perfect reactive game to exploit.
Similarly, Al Nassr, chasing a valuable three points in their title pursuit of Al Ittihad last week, needed to take the ascendancy in the Riyadh derby with Al Hilal; in retrospect playing straight into the hands of their cross-capital rivals.
A home opener to the two-legged final may then be the perfect recipe for Al Hilal to well establish themselves in a reactive position come the second leg in Saitama. Back in 2019 they indeed took a slender 1-0 lead to Japan for the second leg, going on to profit in the wake of heavy pressure to extend their lead on the counterattack and clinch their fourth continental trophy in emphatic style.
Could we see history repeat itself this year?
With significant matches between these two weighing heavily in the minds of most neutral Asian football fans tuning into this weekend’s final, the AFC Champions League record holders, despite their troubles back home, remain favourites to extend their record to a fifth continental crown in the coming weeks.
With Saudi football, led by their all-conquering Riyadh giants set to explode with further investment and regional pull this coming summer, this threatens to be the best opportunity for anyone to halt Al Hilal’s dominance of this competition.
Another triumph for the blue side of Riyadh may go on to underline their dominance of Asia for the coming years and beyond.
Listen to our preview of the AFC Champions League Final on The Asian Game Podcast
