2019 AFC Champions League Final
# 2019 AFC Champions League Final

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.

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. This marked the first time in eight years that a team from West Zone won the competition since Al Sadd won it in 2011. As winners, Al-Hilal earned the right to represent the AFC at the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the second round.

## Teams

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, 1987, 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

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.

## Road to the final

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

| Al-Hilal | Al-Hilal | Al-Hilal | Al-Hilal | Round | Urawa Red Diamonds | Urawa Red Diamonds | Urawa Red Diamonds | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Result | Result | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | Result | Result |
| Al-Ain | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | Matchday 1 | Buriram United | 3–0 (H) | 3–0 (H) | 3–0 (H) |
| Al-Duhail | 3–1 (H) | 3–1 (H) | 3–1 (H) | Matchday 2 | Beijing FC | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) |
| Esteghlal | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | Matchday 3 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 0–1 (H) | 0–1 (H) | 0–1 (H) |
| Esteghlal | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) |
| Al-Ain | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | Matchday 5 | Buriram United | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) |
| Al-Duhail | 2–2 (A) | 2–2 (A) | 2–2 (A) | Matchday 6 | Beijing FC | 3–0 (H) | 3–0 (H) | 3–0 (H) |
| Group C winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 13 2 Al-Duhail 6 9 3 Esteghlal 6 8 4 Al-Ain 6 2 Source: AFC | Group C winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 13 2 Al-Duhail 6 9 3 Esteghlal 6 8 4 Al-Ain 6 2 Source: AFC | Group C winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 13 2 Al-Duhail 6 9 3 Esteghlal 6 8 4 Al-Ain 6 2 Source: AFC | Group C winners Pos Teamvte 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 Teamvte 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 | Group G runners-up Pos Teamvte 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 | Group G runners-up Pos Teamvte 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 | Group G runners-up Pos Teamvte 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

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. 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).

## Matches

### First leg

**Summary**

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

**Details**

| 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 |
| CM | 8 | Ewerton |
| CM | 16 | Takuya Aoki |
| RM | 27 | Daiki Hashioka |
| 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) Assistant referees: 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 90 minutes. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used. |

**Statistics**

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 |

### Second leg

**Summary**

Salem Al-Dawsari scored for Al-Hilal after 74 minutes before Bafétimbi Gomis made his eleventh goal of the tournament, earning him the top goalscorer and best player titles aside of the AFC Champions League trophy.

**Details**

| Urawa Red Diamonds | Al-Hilal |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Shusaku Nishikawa |
| CB | 31 | Takuya Iwanami | 57' |
| CB | 4 | Daisuke Suzuki |
| CB | 5 | Tomoaki Makino | 76' |
| CM | 8 | Ewerton |
| CM | 16 | Takuya Aoki | 53' | 88' |
| RM | 27 | Daiki Hashioka |
| LM | 41 | Takahiro Sekine | 43' |
| AM | 7 | Kazuki Nagasawa | | 63' |
| AM | 12 | Fabrício | | 71' |
| CF | 30 | Shinzo Koroki (c) |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Haruki Fukushima |
| DF | 2 | Maurício Antônio |
| DF | 3 | Tomoya Ugajin |
| MF | 10 | Yōsuke Kashiwagi | | 63' |
| MF | 22 | Yuki Abe | | 88' |
| MF | 29 | Kai Shibato |
| FW | 14 | Kenyu Sugimoto | | 71' |
| Manager: ||
| Tsuyoshi Otsuki ||
| GK | 1 | Abdullah Al-Mayouf |
| RB | 2 | Mohammed Al-Breik | 80' |
| CB | 20 | Jang Hyun-soo |
| CB | 5 | Ali Al-Bulaihi |
| LB | 12 | Yasser Al-Shahrani |
| RM | 19 | André Carrillo |
| CM | 7 | Salman Al-Faraj (c) |
| CM | 8 | Abdullah Otayf | 90+4' |
| LM | 29 | Salem Al-Dawsari |
| CF | 9 | Sebastian Giovinco | 88' |
| CF | 18 | Bafétimbi Gomis |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 30 | Mohammed Al-Waked |
| DF | 17 | Abdullah Al-Hafith | 80' |
| MF | 24 | Nawaf Al-Abed |
| MF | 27 | Hattan Bahebri |
| MF | 28 | Mohamed Kanno | 88' |
| FW | 10 | Mohammad Al-Shalhoub | 90+4' |
| FW | 11 | Saleh Al-Shehri |
| Manager: ||
| Răzvan Lucescu ||
| Man of the Match: Sebastian Giovinco (Al-Hilal) Assistant referees: Andrey Tsapenko (Uzbekistan) Timur Gaynullin (Uzbekistan) Fourth official: Ruslan Seratzidinov (Uzbekistan) Additional assistant referees: Aziz Asimov (Uzbekistan) Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan) | Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra time if tied on aggregate and away goals. Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time (no away goals rule applied). Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used. |

**Statistics**

Overall :

| Statistic | Urawa Red Diamonds | Al-Hilal |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 2 |
| Total shots | 6 | 19 |
| Shots on target | 2 | 8 |
| Blocked shots | 2 | 7 |
| Ball possession | 54% | 46% |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 7 |
| Passes | 370 | 307 |
| Fouls conceded | 13 | 20 |
| Offsides | 2 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 4 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
