After the first leg ended in a 1–1 draw,[1]Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal 1–0 in the second leg to win 2–1 on aggregate, and were crowned AFC Champions League champions for the second time.[2]
This was the fourth time that an Asian club final was played in the King Fahd International Stadium, with the previous finals being 1995, 2000, and 2014 (second leg).
This was the second time that an Asian club final was played in the Saitama Stadium 2002, with the previous final being 2007 (second leg).
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.[4] The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations, Section 3. 11.2 & 11.3).[3]
Matches
First leg
Urawa Red Diamonds took the lead in the seventh minute after Rafael Silva intercepted a clearance of Salman Al-Faraj and converted from close range.[5]
Omar Kharbin scored for Al-Hilal in the 37th minute striking a close-range effort through the legs of Urawa Red Diamonds goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa.[6]
Carlos Eduardo (Al-Hilal) tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during first leg and was ruled out from second leg.[7]
Urawa Red Diamonds scored the only goal in the 88th minute when Rafael Silva scored from the right of the penalty area, shooting high to the net with his right foot.[8][9]
