Four Great AFC Champions League Comebacks
Kuala Lumpur: Going into this week's AFC Champions League semi-final second leg matches, it is evident that one team in particular has a mountain to climb in order to progress to the final.
Persepolis of Islamic Republic of Iran suffered a 4-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the first leg and must now score at least four times, while ensuring that their opponents do not net an away goal.
The task may seem difficult but a look back to the competition's history shows that several teams have achieved what seemed to be impossible - overturning a big first leg defeat.
Let's take a look at four such instances from the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League.
2004 AFC Champions League Final: Al Ittihad v Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
The first in our list is arguably one of the most memorable finals ever in the history of Asian club football.
After failing to qualify for the inaugural edition of the revamped AFC Champions League, Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad went all the way to the final in their first appearance in 2004.
Their opponents in the final were Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, who won the title in 1995. Al Ittihad hosted the first leg in Jeddah, where the home crowd were stunned by a 3-1 defeat.
Leading up to the second leg a week later, things looked bleak for Al Ittihad.
However, the Saudis romped into a 2-0 lead at halftime courtesy of goals from Redha Tukar and Hamzah Idris. The tie was now level on aggregate but Seongnam still led on away goals.
That technicality was taken care of in the second half when star midfielder Mohammed Noor scored a brace to put Al Ittihad in the driving seat.
Manaf Abushgeer then added a late goal to put the icing on the cake as Al Ittihad completed an improbable and historic second leg comeback.
2009 AFC Champions League Quarter-final: Pohang Steelers v Bunyodkor
Pohang Steelers are the most successful team in Asia's premier club competition with three titles. The last of those was achieved with a thrilling run in 2009, which included a classic clash with Bunyodkor in the quarter-finals.
The two-time champions had a dream start to the first leg in Tashkent when No Byung-jun scored in the seventh minute.
However, the home side, led by reigning AFC Player of the Year Server Djeparov, came back to register a 3-1 win that left Pohang staring at elimination.
It was a different story in the second leg at the Steelyard Stadium as Pohang swept away their opponents, with a goal from Kim Jae-sung and a Denilson double giving them a 4-3 aggregate lead.
A minute before full-time, Bunyodkor threatened to spoil the party when Victor Karpenko netted to level the tie. However, Macedonian striker Stevica Ristic struck the winner for Pohang in extra time to take them to the semi-final.
2014 AFC Champions League Round of 16: Western Sydney Wanderers v Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Western Sydney Wanderers created history in 2014 when they won the AFC Champions League in their debut season after defeating Al Hilal in the final.
None of that would have been possible, however, if they hadn't overturned a 3-1 defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the first leg of their Round of 16 clash.
Hiroshima's first leg win was powered by two second half goals from Naoki Ishihara.
Tomi Juric netted from the spot to give the Wanderers a crucial away goal but Hiroshima clinched a 3-1 win with a late strike from Kosei Shibasaki.
The second leg in Sydney, saw Hiroshima keeping out the Wanderers and maintaining a clean sheet going into halftime.
After the restart, however, the Wanderers came out all guns blazing and they duly scored, Shannon Cole reducing the deficit in the 55th minute.
Now needing just a goal to progress, Tony Popovic's men went all out.
With just five minutes remaining, Brendon Santalab popped up to score the team's second and take them through to the quarter-finals on away goals.
2017 AFC Champions League Quarter-final: Urawa Red Diamonds v Kawasaki Frontale
The final selection in this list is from this year's edition of the AFC Champions League, when 2007 champions Urawa Red Diamonds faced off with Kawasaki Frontale.
Kawasaki pulled off a convincing 3-1 win at home in the first leg, with a goal from Elsinho sandwiched between a Yu Kobayashi double to give them the advantage.
Urawa took to the pitch in the second leg, knowing the difficulty of what they had to do.
To their horror, it was Kawasaki who scored first; Elsinho's 19th minute strike gave his side a 4-1 aggregate lead. Although the tie seemed to be a foregone conclusion, the Reds came back in stunning fashion.
Goals from Shinzo Koroki and Zlatan Ljubijankic gave them hope before Rafael Silva scored in the 84th minute to level the tie.
Two minutes later, Toshiyuki Takagi finished off a cross to put the icing on the cake for Urawa's remarkable comeback.
Photo: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com
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