2017 AFC Champions League Final
# 2017 AFC Champions League Final

The 2017 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2017 AFC Champions League, the 36th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 15th 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. This was the first AFC Champions League final involving a Japanese club since Gamba Osaka in 2008. The first leg was hosted by Al-Hilal at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on 18 November 2017, while the second leg was hosted by Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama on 25 November 2017. The winner earned the right to represent the AFC at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the second round.

After the first leg ended in a 1–1 draw, 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.

## 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) | 5 (1986, 1987, 1991, 2000, 2014) |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | East Region (Zone: EAFF) | 1 (2007) |

### 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

* Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama, Japan, hosted the second leg.

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).

## 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 |
| Persepolis | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) | Matchday 1 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 4–0 (A) | 4–0 (A) | 4–0 (A) |
| Al-Rayyan | 2–1 (H) | 2–1 (H) | 2–1 (H) | Matchday 2 | FC Seoul | 5–2 (H) | 5–2 (H) | 5–2 (H) |
| Al-Wahda | 2–2 (A) | 2–2 (A) | 2–2 (A) | Matchday 3 | Shanghai SIPG | 2–3 (A) | 2–3 (A) | 2–3 (A) |
| Al-Wahda | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Shanghai SIPG | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) |
| Persepolis | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | Matchday 5 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 6–1 (H) | 6–1 (H) | 6–1 (H) |
| Al-Rayyan | 4–3 (A) | 4–3 (A) | 4–3 (A) | Matchday 6 | FC Seoul | 0–1 (A) | 0–1 (A) | 0–1 (A) |
| Group D winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 12 2 Persepolis 6 9 3 Al-Rayyan 6 7 4 Al-Wahda 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 12 2 Persepolis 6 9 3 Al-Rayyan 6 7 4 Al-Wahda 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 12 2 Persepolis 6 9 3 Al-Rayyan 6 7 4 Al-Wahda 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Hilal 6 12 2 Persepolis 6 9 3 Al-Rayyan 6 7 4 Al-Wahda 6 4 Source: AFC | Final standings | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 12 2 Shanghai SIPG 6 12 3 FC Seoul 6 6 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 6 Source: AFC | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 12 2 Shanghai SIPG 6 12 3 FC Seoul 6 6 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 6 Source: AFC | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 12 2 Shanghai SIPG 6 12 3 FC Seoul 6 6 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 6 Source: AFC | Group F winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 12 2 Shanghai SIPG 6 12 3 FC Seoul 6 6 4 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 6 Source: AFC |
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout stage | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Esteghlal Khuzestan | 4–2 | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (H) | Round of 16 | Jeju United | 3–2 | 0–2 (A) | 3–0 (a.e.t.) (H) |
| Al-Ain | 3–0 | 0–0 (A) | 3–0 (H) | Quarter-finals | Kawasaki Frontale | 5–4 | 1–3 (A) | 4–1 (H) |
| Persepolis | 6–2 | 4–0 (H) | 2–2 (A) | Semi-finals | Shanghai SIPG | 2–1 | 1–1 (A) | 1–0 (H) |

## 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 be used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations, Section 3. 11.2 & 11.3).

## 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. 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.

| Al-Hilal | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Abdullah Al-Mayouf |
| RB | 2 | Mohammed Al-Breik | 90+1' |
| CB | 33 | Osama Hawsawi (c) |
| CB | 70 | Mohammed Jahfali | 45+2' |
| LB | 12 | Yasser Al-Shahrani |
| CM | 7 | Salman Al-Faraj |
| CM | 8 | Abdullah Otayf | | 70' |
| CM | 16 | Nicolás Milesi | 5' | 78' |
| AM | 29 | Salem Al-Dawsari |
| AM | 3 | Carlos Eduardo | | 19' |
| CF | 77 | Omar Kharbin | 37' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 30 | Mohammed Al-Waked |
| DF | 4 | Abdullah Al-Zori |
| MF | 6 | Abdulmalek Al-Khaibri |
| MF | 24 | Nawaf Al Abed | 66' | 19' |
| MF | 27 | Mohamed Kanno | 80' | 78' |
| FW | 20 | Yasser Al-Qahtani |
| FW | 44 | Mukhtar Fallatah | | 70' |
| Manager: ||
| Ramón Díaz ||
| GK | 1 | Shusaku Nishikawa |
| RB | 6 | Wataru Endo |
| CB | 22 | Yuki Abe (c) |
| CB | 5 | Tomoaki Makino |
| LB | 3 | Tomoya Ugajin | 12' |
| DM | 16 | Takuya Aoki |
| RM | 9 | Yuki Muto |
| CM | 10 | Yōsuke Kashiwagi |
| CM | 15 | Kazuki Nagasawa | | 76' |
| LM | 8 | Rafael Silva | | 64' |
| CF | 30 | Shinzo Koroki | | 86' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Tetsuya Enomoto |
| DF | 4 | Daisuke Nasu |
| DF | 46 | Ryota Moriwaki |
| MF | 7 | Tsukasa Umesaki | | 76' |
| MF | 39 | Shinya Yajima |
| FW | 13 | Toshiyuki Takagi | | 86' |
| FW | 21 | Zlatan Ljubijankić | | 64' |
| Manager: ||
| Takafumi Hori ||

* Man of the Match:
* Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Red Diamonds)
* Assistant referees:
* Ahmad Al-Roalle (Jordan)
* Issa Al-Amawi (Jordan)
* Fourth official:
* Yousef Al-Jararwah (Jordan)
* Additional assistant referees:
* Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)
* Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

### Second leg

Carlos Eduardo (Al-Hilal) tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during first leg and was ruled out from second leg. 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.

| Urawa Red Diamonds | Al-Hilal |
| - | - |
| GK | 1 | Shusaku Nishikawa |
| RB | 6 | Wataru Endo |
| CB | 22 | Yuki Abe (c) |
| CB | 5 | Tomoaki Makino | 27' |
| LB | 3 | Tomoya Ugajin | 13' | 74' |
| CM | 10 | Yōsuke Kashiwagi | | 90+3' |
| CM | 16 | Takuya Aoki |
| RW | 9 | Yuki Muto |
| AM | 15 | Kazuki Nagasawa | 70' |
| LW | 8 | Rafael Silva |
| CF | 30 | Shinzo Koroki | | 84' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 25 | Tetsuya Enomoto |
| DF | 2 | Maurício Antônio | | 74' |
| DF | 46 | Ryota Moriwaki |
| MF | 7 | Tsukasa Umesaki | | 90+3' |
| MF | 39 | Shinya Yajima |
| FW | 13 | Toshiyuki Takagi |
| FW | 21 | Zlatan Ljubijankić | | 84' |
| Manager: ||
| Takafumi Hori ||
| GK | 1 | Abdullah Al-Mayouf |
| RB | 2 | Mohammed Al-Breik |
| CB | 33 | Osama Hawsawi (c) |
| CB | 70 | Mohammed Jahfali |
| LB | 12 | Yasser Al-Shahrani |
| DM | 8 | Abdullah Otayf | 20' | 87' |
| RM | 29 | Salem Al-Dawsari | 72' 79' |
| CM | 16 | Nicolás Milesi |
| CM | 7 | Salman Al-Faraj | | 68' |
| LM | 24 | Nawaf Al Abed | 77' |
| CF | 77 | Omar Kharbin | | 62' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 30 | Mohammed Al-Waked |
| DF | 4 | Abdullah Al-Zori |
| MF | 6 | Abdulmalek Al-Khaibri |
| MF | 10 | Mohammad Al-Shalhoub | | 87' |
| MF | 27 | Mohamed Kanno |
| FW | 20 | Yasser Al-Qahtani | 80' | 68' |
| FW | 44 | Mukhtar Fallatah | | 62' |
| Manager: ||
| Ramón Díaz ||

* Man of the Match:
* Rafael Silva (Urawa Red Diamonds)
* Assistant referees:
* Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)
* Jakhongir Saidov (Uzbekistan)
* Fourth official:
* Mamur Saidkasimov (Uzbekistan)
* Additional assistant referees:
* Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)
* Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)
