AFC Champions League Final - Road to the Final: Urawa Red Diamonds
Kuala Lumpur: Urawa Red Diamonds return to the AFC Champions League final on the 10-year anniversary of their first and last appearance in the continental club finale and they have done so on the back of a rollercoaster campaign.
Group Stage
Urawa qualified for the 2017 AFC Champions League after coming second in their domestic competition, finishing runners-up in the J.League.
The Saitama side’s recent history in the tournament has been below expectations, although their 2016 exit in the last 16 was a bitter pill to swallow as FC Seoul eliminated them on penalties after scoring a 121st-minute equaliser.
Paired in Group F alongside 2014 winners Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia, China’s Shanghai SIPG and Korea Republic’s FC Seoul, Urawa got off to the perfect start with a 4-0 victory in Sydney in February.
The Reds returned home a week later to post a 5-2 win over FC Seoul and, after two games, the Japanese side had already seen eight different players get on the scoresheet and remained on maximum points, alongside Andre Villas-Boas’ Shanghai.
A top-of-the-table clash with Shanghai was next up, but Urawa found themselves 3-0 down early in the second half, before Rafael Silva’s penalty and Wataru Endo’s goal proved too little too late in a 3-2 defeat.
But Brazilian Silva was on hand to angle a low drive into the bottom right corner in the return fixture with the Chinese Super League team as a 1-0 win left the two sides level pegging on nine points apiece, six ahead of Western Sydney and FC Seoul.
Another brace from Silva in a resounding 6-1 victory over Western Sydney saw Urawa confirm their passage to the last 16, before a 1-0 reversal in Seoul proved inconsequential as the 2007 champions advanced as group winners following Shanghai’s defeat in Australia.
Knockout Stage
Next up for Urawa was a potentially tricky Round of 16 encounter with Korea Republic’s Jeju United, and the first leg proved exactly that as goals from Marcelo Toscsno and Jin Seoung-uk gave Jeju a 2-0 win and Urawa a mountain to climb.
The second leg, however, would prove to be one of the most dramatic games of the tournament as Shinzo Koroki and Tadanari Lee put the hosts two up by the interval at Saitama Stadium.
The game had reached fever pitch by extra-time, and Ryota Moriwata found himself unmarked at the back post to tap home the winner in the 114th minute.
Coach Mihailo Petrovic was replaced by Takafumi Hori in the summer months and it was the former Urawa player who helmed the side in their first quarter-final appearance since 2008, against domestic rivals and unbeaten Kawasaki Frontale.
In similar fashion to the previous round Urawa returned home from the away leg with a two-goal deficit, although substitute Yuki Muto’s goal in a 3-1 defeat at least reduced the consequences of conceding at home
And for second time in a row Saitama Stadium witnessed something special as, despite going a goal further behind after Elsinho’s opener, Urawa would then fire home four times to book a meeting with Group F rivals Shanghai in the last four.
A return to Shanghai for the first leg of the semi-final saw Urawa fall behind after 15 minutes after Brazilian striker Hulk opened the scoring.
Yosuke Kashiwagi levelled on 35 minutes and, despite having to face intense Shanghai pressure, Urawa left China with a commendable 1-1 draw.
In the second leg, it was Silva who headed home the crucial goal from Kashiwagi’s corner for his seventh of the campaign that saw Urawa maintain their perfect home record to advance to a final with Al Hilal.
The final will see East meet West for the first time in the 2017 competition with the first leg to be staged at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on November 18 and the decisive reverse fixture at Saitama Stadium in Saitama a week later as the sides battle it out to be crowned continental champions.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com
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