2004 - Ittihad’s comeback for the ages

After Al Ain were crowned inaugural champions in 2002-03, the second edition of the AFC Champions League saw Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad lock horns with Korea Republic’s Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in a two-legged final.

Current Ulsan Hyundai head coach Kim Do-hoon was amongst the scorers as the Korean side come away from Jeddah with a valuable 3-1 win. Ittihad travelled to Seongnam for the away leg a week later with the odds stacked against them in what was dubbed “Mission Impossible”.

Centre-back Redha Tukar had netted the only goal of the first leg and he repeated the feat to put Al Ittihad in front half an hour into the game. Seongnam still had the aggregate lead despite conceding again just before the half-time break.

Suddenly the mission was not so impossible and with momentum on their side, Al Ittihad skipper Mohamad Noor took the game by the scruff of the neck, adding two more second half strikes and Manaf Abushgeer sealed a historic 5-1 victory in added time as the Saudis won the first of their two consecutive continental titles on an unforgettable December evening.

2006 - Syria’s Al Karamah dare to dream

Syrian clubs made their debut in the AFC Champions League in 2005 with national powerhouses Al Jaish and Al Wahda both finishing bottom of their respective groups, so expectations were low when Homs-based Al Karamah and Aleppo-based Al Ittihad took the mantle of representing the nation in the next edition.

And while Al Ittihad expectedly bowed out at the group stage, Al Karamah had a different say, going on to top their group before coming from two goals down to stun back-to-back champions Al Ittihad 4-2 in the quarter-finals and edging Kuwait’s Al Qadsia SC in the semi-final to set up a final date with Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Two second-half goals for Jeonbuk sealed a comfortable 2-0 home win in the first leg, but Al Karamah had reversed a similar situation in the quarter-finals, so had the confidence they could do it again in front of their home fans.

In front of 40,000 fans at Khalid Ibn Al Waleed Stadium, Iyad Mando fired in off the post from the edge of the area nine minutes into the second half. But it was just after the hour mark that the entire stadium erupted with joy as Mohanad Ibrahim added the second from an impossibly tight angle to give the city of Homs and the entire country a reason to dream.

The fairy tale was not meant to continue, and it was Brazilian forward Ze Carlos who made the dreams of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ fans a reality, scoring four minutes from time to earn the Koreans the first of their two AFC Champions League titles.

2014 - Western Sydney Wanderers stun Asia

Perhaps no tale of minnows achieving the ultimate glory in club football rivals that of Western Sydney Wanderers’ rise to the summit of Asian football in 2014.

The Wanderers made headlines across Australia by winning the 2013-14 A-League Premiership in their first season of existence, having been established in 2012. They subsequently earned a place in the 2014 AFC Champions League.

Whereas Melbourne Victory and Central Coast Mariners, Australia’s other two representatives in the competition that season, bowed out at the group stage. Western Sydney Wanderers emerged as top of a group that included 2012 champions Ulsan Hyundai, Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale and China PR’s Guizhou Renhe.

Their dream journey to the final continued as they swept aside Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Guangzhou Evergrande and FC Seoul to book a final clash with two-time Asian Club Championship winners Al Hilal SFC of Saudi Arabia.

In front of a packed Parramatta Stadium, Tomi Juric entered the club’s history books by scoring the solitary goal in a 1-0 victory, and goalkeeper Ante Covic acquired legendary status with a heroic performance in Riyadh six days later to be named the competition’s MVP.

Western Sydney Wanderers remain the last team to win the AFC Champions League on their debut and the only Australian side to win it to date.

2016 - Douglas' missed penalty for Al Ain

Midway through the 2010s, UAE football was on the rise, the national team had reached the 2015 AFC Asian Cup semi-finals, Al Ahli Dubai had reached the 2015 AFC Champions League final and Ahmed Khalil was the reigning AFC Player of The Year, then it was the turn of Al Ain, who were back at the grand stage in the continental final for the third time in their history, after 2002-03 and 2005.

Propelled by a series of man-of-the-match performances from talisman Omar Abdulrahman, and with Brazilian striker Douglas having bagged five goals in the competition already, Al Ain took on Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the final.

At the Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Colombian winger Danilo Asprilla put Al Ain in front, but Jeonbuk responded with a brace from Brazilian winger Leonardo Perreira, taking a narrow lead to the return leg at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

Al Ain dominated throughout but found themselves behind at the half-hour mark as Han Kyo-won converted after a corner kick for the visitors whose joy lasted merely four minutes before one of their own, Korean midfielder Lee Myung-joo equalised for Al Ain.

As the game headed for half-time, Al Ain were awarded a penalty kick. 23,000 pairs of eyes focused on the spot as Douglas, rather than usual taker Abdulrahman, stepped up to take the penalty. The current Vissel Kobe striker was left ruing his luck as he unleashed an effort from 12 yards that sailed high over the crossbar to the dismay of the home crowd.

Having weathered the storm, and with a man-to-man marking masterclass from Choi Chul-soon on the competition’s MVP Abdulrahman, the momentum was back on Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ side as they saw off the game, emerging as continental champions for the third time in their history with a 3-2 aggregate score.

2019 - Al Hilal SFC end long wait

Few teams in the entire continent go into every year with one stated objective, to win the AFC Champions League. Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal is one of those selected elites.

For the Riyadh-based side, the golden 1990s and early 2000s years were a time when they seemed to collect continental trophies for fun. With six titles across three different Asian club competitions, adding ‘The Seventh’ was an annual motto since the inauguration of the AFC Champions League.

In 2014, debutants Western Sydney Wanderers denied them the opportunity against all odds, and in 2017 they were in the final again, having defeated this year’s finalists Persepolis 6-2 in the semi-finals, but facing them were 2007 winners Urawa Red Diamonds.

An early Rafael Silva goal at King Fahd International Stadium set the tone and despite Omar Kharbin’s equaliser, the Saudi’s had to make do with a disappointing 1-1 home draw. In Saitama a week later, goals were hard to come by for the Saudis who needed one goal to win the title, but when the goal did arrive, it was Silva again who got on the scoresheet with two minutes to go.

As fate would have it, the two sides locked horns again in the final two years later. This time, Al Hilal were leaving nothing to chance, An exemplary performance and a second-half goal from Andre Carrillo sealed a 1-0 win in Riyadh, and they went to Saitama determined to bring home the elusive trophy.

Salem Al Dawsari opened the scoring 16 minutes from time and top scorer Bafetimbi Gomis added his 11th of the campaign as Al Hilal served their opponents revenge from two years earlier and brought an end to 17 years of continental trophy drought.

*_Poll ends on December 19, 16:00 (UTC+8)_**