- Whoever wins this year’s edition will level South Korea’s Pohang’s record of three titles
- Tickets sold out 5 minutes after being posted on the website
RIYADH: Coach of Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds Tsuyoshi Otsuki said his team will be looking to attack from the off when his side play Al-Hilal during the first leg of the AFC Champions League Final on Saturday.
The first leg is at the Saudi capital’s King Saud University Stadium in Riyadh, with he second showdown of the final set to take place on Nov. 24 at Saitama Stadium in Japan.
Whoever wins this year’s edition will level South Korea’s Pohang’s record of three titles.
“We will try to score as much as possible when we face Al-Hilal on Saturday to make the second peg easier for us,” said Otsuki.
“Travel fatigue will not have a negative impact on our performance, tomorrow you will be able to see if the circumstances led to my team’s recent loss in the Japanese League,” he added.
Otsuki also thanked Urawa’s fans who made the long journey to Riyadh to support their team.
Al-Hilal’s coach, Razvan Lucescu was confident of his team’s chances during Friday’s press conference.
“We have studied the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses,” he said.
“We are prepared well to face Urawa, we will be representing Saudi Arabia in the final and we hope we will win.
“We are armed with confidence and enthusiasm and all the players are ready for the finals. Mohamed Kino participated in the training, while we will be determining whether or not he will be joining us on the field tomorrow,” he added.
The pre-game build-up will include a small ceremony organized by the AFC to celebrate the two teams.
Tickets sold out 5 minutes after being posted on the website, unsurprising given the huge importance of the game game for both sets of fans.