Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Saitama: Urawa Red Diamonds defender Tomoaki Makino believes that the 2019 AFC Champions League has seen the Saitama club raise their game to new heights, despite domestic woes, ahead of Wednesday's semi-final first leg against Guangzhou Evergrande.
Two-time Continental champions Urawa have endured an odd 2019 so far.
Torrid form in the J.League sees them hovering nervously close to the relegation zone, while they recently suffered a humiliating elimination in the Emperor's Cup against amateur side Honda FC.
Yet on the Continent, Urawa are echoing shades of their 2017-winning side. Progression from a tough Group G was followed by impressive wins over Ulsan Hyundai (Round of 16) and Shanghai SIPG (quarter-finals), both clubs that are flying high in their respective domestic leagues.
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Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Saitama: Guangzhou Evergrande midfielder Anderson Talisca insisted that winning the AFC Champions League is the reason he joined the two-time Continental champions as they prepare for the first leg of their semi-final against Urawa Red Diamonds on Wednesday.
When the 24-year-old Brazilian joined then Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande on loan from Turkish side Beskitas in June 2018, his new team had already been eliminated from that year's AFC Champions League competition.
As such, the 2019 edition became the exciting attacker's first taste of Continental action and he immediately took a liking to the tournament.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The 2019 AFC Champions League semi-finals kick off on Tuesday with teams from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China PR and Japan set to go head-to-head in must-watch ties.
The two-legged fixtures will kick off on Tuesday and Wednesday with the return legs three weeks later. The two winning sides will progress to the final to be played on November 11 and 24.
We look at four players – one from each of the semi-finalists – who could be key for their respective teams' chances of victory.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Ahead of the 2019 AFC Champions League semi-finals, we reflect on five classic encounters from previous editions of the Continental competition.
Last minute winners, goal gluts and East-meet-West clashes, since the AFC Champions League's revamp in 2002-03, there have been plenty of thrills and spills when the tournament has reached the final four phase.
The-AFC.com looks back on some of these ties to remember and relive.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Al Sadd midfielder Nam Tae-hee is excited about the prospect of facing his close friend and Al Hilal defender Jang Hyun-soo in the 2019 AFC Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday.
Born just two months apart in 1991, Nam and Jang were international teammates in the Korea Republic side that finished runners-up in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. But on Tuesday, they line up on opposite sides as Al Sadd SC and Al Hilal SFC battle for a place in the 2019 AFC Champions League final.
Having moved to Qatar in 2012 - joining Lekhwiya from French side Valenciennes - Nam swapped sides in the summer, joining Al Sadd to replace captain-turned-coach Xavi as the side’s main creative midfielder. In turn, Jang joined Al Hilal from FC Tokyo, replacing Australian defender Milos Degenek.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Qatar’s Al Sadd are set to face Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the 2019 AFC Champions League semi-final next week, having overcome another Saudi opponent - Al Nassr – in the previous round and this will be the latest in a long series of Saudi-Qatari clashes in the competition’s knockout stages.
Although clubs from Saudi Arabia and Qatar have appeared in every single edition of the AFC Champions League since its inception in 2002-03, they managed to avoid facing-off in the knockout stages until 2009, but in the decade since, they have been pitted together on 10 occasions. The-AFC.com looks back at how each of these encounters panned out.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Four years on from their last continental clash, West Asian heavyweights Al Sadd SC and Al Hilal SFC are set to lock horns again in the 2019 AFC Champions League semi-finals.
Wins were exchanged when the two sides met in the group stage of the 2015 edition, with Khalfan Ibrahim’s strike giving Al Sadd a 1-0 home win on Matchday Two and Al Hilal emerging 2-1 winners in Riyadh on Matchday Six; the last time the two sides met. the-AFC.com tracks where all 22 starting players involved in that last encounter are now.