2019 AFC Champions League final

2019 AFC Champions League Final
Event	2019 AFC Champions League
	on aggregate
First leg
Date	9 November 2019
Venue	King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh
Man of the Match	André Carrillo (Al-Hilal)
Referee	Ali Sabah (Iraq)
Attendance	22,549
Weather	Cool and fine; 26 °C (79 °F)
Second leg
Date	24 November 2019
Venue	Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama
Man of the Match	Sebastian Giovinco (Al-Hilal)
Referee	Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)
Attendance	58,109
Weather	Fine and chilly; 14 °C (57 °F)
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The 2019 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2019 AFC Champions League, the 38th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Saudi Arabian team Al-Hilal and Japanese team Urawa Red Diamonds. The first leg was hosted by Al-Hilal at the King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh on 9 November 2019, while the second leg was hosted by Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama on 24 November 2019. The final was a rematch of the 2017 final, which Urawa Red Diamonds won 2–1 on aggregate.^[3]

Al-Hilal won their third Asian club championship, tying the record set by the Pohang Steelers for most in the competition's history. They won 3–0 on aggregate, having defeated the Urawa Red Diamonds 1–0 in the first leg and 2–0 in the second.^[4] This marked the first time in eight years that a team from West Zone won the competition since Al Sadd won it in 2011.^[5] As Asian champions, Al-Hilal earned the right to represent the AFC at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, entering at the second round.^[6]

Teams edit

In the following table, finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, since 2003 were in the AFC Champions League era.

Team	Region	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al-Hilal	West Region (Zone: WAFF)	6 (1986^[A], 1987^[B], 1991, 2000, 2014, 2017)
Urawa Red Diamonds	East Region (Zone: EAFF)	2 (2007, 2017)

Notes

^
The 1986 final was played in four-team round-robin format, with Al-Hilal finishing as runners-up.
^
Al-Hilal was unable to participate in the 1987 final and therefore was declared as runners-up.

Venues edit

Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama, Japan

This was the first time that an Asian club final took place at the King Saud University Stadium. Saitama Stadium 2002 hosted an Asian club final for the third time, having previously hosted the second legs of 2007 and 2017.^{[citation needed]}

Road to the final edit

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Al-Hilal

Round

Urawa Red Diamonds

Opponent

Result

Group stage

Opponent

Result

Al-Ain

1–0 (A)

Matchday 1

Buriram United

3–0 (H)

Al-Duhail

3–1 (H)

Matchday 2

Beijing FC

0–0 (A)

Esteghlal

1–2 (A)

Matchday 3

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

0–1 (H)

Esteghlal

1–0 (H)

Matchday 4

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

1–2 (A)

Al-Ain

2–0 (H)

Matchday 5

Buriram United

2–1 (A)

Al-Duhail

2–2 (A)

Matchday 6

Beijing FC

3–0 (H)

Group C winners

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Al-Hilal	6	13
2	Al-Duhail	6	9
3	Esteghlal	6	8
4	Al-Ain	6	2

Source: AFC

Final standings

Group G runners-up

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	6	13
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	10
3	Beijing FC	6	7
4	Buriram United	6	4

Source: AFC

Opponent

Agg.

1st leg

2nd leg

Knockout stage

Opponent

Agg.

1st leg

2nd leg

Al-Ahli

4–3

4–2 (A)

0–1 (H)

Round of 16

Ulsan Hyundai

4–2

1–2 (H)

3–0 (A)

Al-Ittihad

3–1

0–0 (A)

3–1 (H)

Quarter-finals

Shanghai SIPG

3–3 (a)

2–2 (A)

1–1 (H)

Al-Sadd

6–5

4–1 (A)

2–4 (H)

Semi-finals

Guangzhou Evergrande

3–0

2–0 (H)

1–0 (A)

Format edit

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs (first leg hosted by team from the West Region, second leg hosted by team from the East Region) reversed from the previous season's final.^[7] The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning side if necessary (Regulations, Section 3. 11.2 & 11.3).^[6]

Matches edit

First leg edit

Summary edit

Peruvian André Carrillo scored the only goal of the match for Al-Hilal.

Details edit

9 November 2019

19:30 UTC+3

Al-Hilal	1–0	Urawa Red Diamonds
Carrillo 60'	Live Report Stats Report

King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh

Attendance: 22,549

Referee: Ali Sabah (Iraq)

Al-Hilal

Urawa Red Diamonds


GK	1	Abdullah Al-Mayouf
RB	2	Mohammed Al-Breik
CB	20	Jang Hyun-soo
CB	5	Ali Al-Bulaihi	38'
LB	12	Yasser Al-Shahrani
RM	19	André Carrillo
CM	7	Salman Al-Faraj (c)
CM	8	Abdullah Otayf		89'
LM	29	Salem Al-Dawsari
CF	9	Sebastian Giovinco		87'
CF	18	Bafétimbi Gomis
Substitutes:
GK	30	Mohammed Al-Waked
DF	70	Mohammed Jahfali
MF	24	Nawaf Al-Abed		87'
MF	27	Hattan Bahebri
MF	28	Mohamed Kanno		89'
FW	10	Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
FW	11	Saleh Al-Shehri
Manager:
Răzvan Lucescu


GK	25	Haruki Fukushima
CB	31	Takuya Iwanami
CB	4	Daisuke Suzuki
CB	5	Tomoaki Makino
RM	27	Daiki Hashioka
CM	8	Ewerton
CM	16	Takuya Aoki
LM	41	Takahiro Sekine	85'
AM	7	Kazuki Nagasawa	75'
AM	12	Fabrício
CF	30	Shinzo Koroki (c)
Substitutes:
GK	23	Nao Iwadate
DF	2	Maurício Antônio
DF	3	Tomoya Ugajin	85'
MF	10	Yōsuke Kashiwagi
MF	22	Yuki Abe
MF	29	Kai Shibato
FW	14	Kenyu Sugimoto	75'
Manager:
Tsuyoshi Otsuki

Man of the Match:
André Carrillo (Al-Hilal)^[1]

Assistant referees:^[1]
Ali Ubaydee (Iraq)
Ameer Hussein (Iraq)
Fourth official:
Watheq Al-Swaiedi (Iraq)
Additional assistant referees:
Mohanad Qasim Sarray (Iraq)
Omar Al-Yaqoubi (Oman)

Match rules^[6]

90 minutes.
Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics edit

Overall
Statistic	Al-Hilal	Urawa Red Diamonds
Goals scored	1	0
Total shots	22	2
Shots on target	6	1
Blocked shots	8	1
Ball possession	70%	30%
Corner kicks	9	2
Passes	680	293
Fouls conceded	10	12
Offsides	3	1
Yellow cards	1	0
Red cards	0	0