Andre Carrillo’s goal separates the teams after the first game in Riyadh two weeks ago to leave Urawa needing to score twice at Saitama Stadium to claim a record third AFC Champions League crown.

But while Otsuki will look to find the balance between pushing his team to score the goals needed to add this year’s title to the ones won in 2007 and 2017, he knows his players must strike the right balance between attack and defence in their bid to make history.

Andre Carrillo’s second-half goal in the first leg means the Saudi side will start the return meeting 1-0 up as they aim to win the competition for the first time, while the hosts are targeting an unprecedented third title.

The teams also squared off at Saitama Stadium in the second leg two years ago, with Urawa claiming a 1-0 victory to be crowned champions after a 2-1 aggregate win.

With Urawa a goal down but seeking an unprecedented third AFC Champions League crown and Al Hilal targeting a first to add to the many Asian titles they have won before, the-AFC.com has chosen five things to look out for ahead of the game.

In 16 previous finals, history shows that the team that loses the first leg tends not to be crowned champions. Only Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad have managed the feat and that was back in 2004.

That does not, however, mean there haven’t been some classic encounters over the years and the-AFC.com has picked out five to whet your appetite ahead of Sunday’s game at Saitama Stadium.

And to grow the national team game in Asia, in line with the AFC’s Vision and Mission of keeping football the number one sport on the Continent, it was agreed that a ‘week of football’ should be introduced for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers Final Round.

The second meeting of the Committee for the cycle 2019 to 2023, chaired by Dr Tran Quoc Tuan, heard that the idea of expanding the AFC Champions League to 40 teams was to transform the competition from ‘exclusive’ to ‘inclusive’ by increasing the number of Member Associations competing from 12 to 20.

That leaves the showpiece event perfectly poised ahead of the return meeting at Saitama Stadium on November 24 and both teams seem relatively happy with the scoreline. Here's what those involved had to say.

With the international break to take centre stage over the next week before the return meeting at Saitama Stadium on November 24, the-AFC.com looks back at the facts and figures that caught the eye at Riyadh's King Saud University Stadium.

Photos: Al Hilal, Urawa Red Diamonds