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The AFC Champions League 2023/24 has reached the semifinal stage as the four remaining sides get ready to battle it out for a place in Asian club football’s main event.
With four-time Asian champions Al Hilal SFC, inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain FC, two-time champions Ulsan Hyundai FC and Japanese powerhouse Yokohama F. Marinos making up the line-up, it’s a star-studded cast set to take centre stage on the continent.
Ahead of the first legs on April 16 and 17, AFC Media has selected five things to look out for.
Will Al Hilal make it number 35?
Victories over their two biggest rivals Al Nassr and Al Ittihad over the past week saw Al Hilal win the Saudi Super Cup, with the 4-1 win over the latter on Thursday extending the Riyadh club’s world record to an incredible 34 victories in a row.
You have to go back to September 21, 2023 to find the last time Al Hilal failed to win a match as they have swept all challengers aside to stretch well clear at the top of the Saudi Pro League, lift the Saudi Super Cup, reach the semifinal of the King Cup and win nine successive games in the AFC Champions League as they bid to win a third title in five years.
Next up to try and snap the run is an Al Ain side who return to the semifinals for the first time since 2016 and will be boosted by the fact they eliminated another Riyadh team, Al Nassr, in the previous round. But, on a run of four matches without a win, the Emirati side will need a reversal of fortunes if they are to stop Al Hilal from securing victory number 35.
Lopes’s hot streak
Having been used sparingly in the group stage, Anderson Lopes started his first game in the must-win Matchday Six encounter with Shandong Taishan, scoring his second goal of the competition as Yokohama claimed a 3-0 victory to advance to the knockout rounds.
The Brazilian striker has started every game since and it was his stoppage-time penalty at the end of extra time that took Marinos past Bangkok United in the second leg of the last 16 before he scored home and away in the quarterfinal against Shandong as his side progressed to the semifinal for the first time.
With five goals from just five starts and three in his last three knockout round games, the 30-year-old is in red-hot form and proving the man for the big occasion. Ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, Lopes’s finishing ability could be key if Yokohama are to take a positive result back to Japan.
The Rahimi-Romero connection
Al Nassr began the quarterfinal with Al Ain as most people’s favourites but the Saudi Pro League club struggled to handle the Emirati side’s front duo of Soufiane Rahimi and Alejandro Romero as Hernan Crespo’s team netted four times across two games.
Three of those goals were scored by Moroccan Rahimi, who took his tally to a joint-tournament-leading eight goals for the campaign, while two – one in each leg – were created by inch-perfect defence-splitting balls by Paraguayan playmaker Romero.
Up against an irresistible Al Hilal, the pair’s link-up play may well hold the key to an upset at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, while Crespo also has six-goal Kodjo Laba at his disposal should he wish to add further firepower to a forward line that proved the difference in the quarterfinals.
Who gets the nod up front for Ulsan?
Martin Adam began his continental campaign in fine fashion with a hat-trick against BG Pathum United on Matchday One before he added another two to his tally in a 2-2 draw against Kawasaki Frontale on Matchday Five. With five goals, he remains Ulsan’s top scorer so far.
However, head coach Hong Myung-bo has generally opted for the Hungarian’s fellow striker Joo Min-kyu in the knockout rounds, with the 34-year-old starting three of the four games – compared to Adam’s one – and repaying his head coach with three goals in the Round of 16 victory over Ventforet Kofu.
In K League 1, too, Hong tends to choose one or the other up front as he keeps the opposition guessing on his team selection. As Ulsan’s biggest match of 2024 so far rapidly approaches on Wednesday, both Adam and Joo will be desperate to get the nod up front.
Renewal of historic rivalry
Over the years Al Ain and Al Hilal have faced off 12 times in the AFC Champions League, with each side picking up five wins apiece. Indeed, their first-ever match in the competition was against each other when Al Ain won 1-0 in the group stage opener en route to being crowned the inaugural champions back in 2002-03.
While they may be level on wins, it is Al Hilal who have the better record in the knockout round meetings, eliminating the Emiratis 4-2 on aggregate in the 2014 semifinal and 3-0 on aggregate in the 2017 quarterfinal before falling short in the final both times. Most recently, Al Hilal were victorious in both group stage games in 2019 before, this time, winning the competition.
Between them, Al Ain and Al Hilal have contested seven of the 20 AFC Champions League finals, making them two of the most successful clubs on the continent. And with a combined 11 semifinals appearances, this truly is a meeting between a pair of Asian heavyweights.
