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: The four remaining teams in the 2019 AFC Champions League will return to action in the coming days with the first legs of the semi-finals to be played on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Two-time winners Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan and China PR's Guangzhou Evergrande are aiming to lift the coveted trophy for an unprecedented third time, while 2011 winners Al Sadd from Qatar and Saudi heavweights Al Hilal will be looking to return Asian football's club crown to the West for the first time in eight years.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: On Tuesday, two of West Asia’s most decorated club sides will clash in the AFC Champions League for the tenth time, but the history of continental matchups between Al Hilal and Al Sadd extends back two decades, before the inception of the competition.
When the AFC Champions League was inaugurated in 2002-03, Al Sadd and Al Hilal became the maiden representatives of their respective countries in the competition.
Both sides had already been continental champions, with Al Sadd lifting the Asian Club Championship trophy in 1989 and Al Hilal following suit three years later before adding a second title in 1999-2000.
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: 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: 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.