Never taking their eyes off the prize, Al Ahli are champions of Asia at long last

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JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Finally, Al Ahli has its treasure, recording a 2-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale in the final of the AFC Champions League Elite on Saturday evening to claim a first-ever Asian crown.

Powered by first-half goals from Galeno and Franck Kessié, Matthias Jaissle's side completed an undefeated ACLE campaign -- ending their opponent's unlikely run through a West Asian gauntlet and becoming the 25th club to reach Asia's highest peak, as well as the first new champion since Kashima Antlers' 2018 triumph.

Jaissle was enveloped in celebration by his staff at fulltime, just able to get his arm loose and pump his fist in the direction of the crowd before freeing himself and moving to celebrate with his players.

And his side showed their own resolve on Saturday, it quickly becoming from the opening kickoff at the King Abdullah Sport City that the contest would be decided by what broke first.

Buffeted by the roar that descended from the partisan crowd surrounding them, where every attack from their opponents was given a lethal air of purpose by the overpowering noise, would it be the defensive resolve of Kawasaki?

Or would it be the spirit of Al Ahli, as the weight of expectation carried by the vast majority of the 58,281 in the stands -- a divide only made possible by the Asian Football Confederation's decision to stage the new, centralised ACLE Finals in their home city of Jeddah -- became more crushing with every minute that went by without a lead?

And in the end, it was the former.

A fierce press of Galeno was rewarded in the 35th minute when he stole the ball from the Kawasaki defence high up the pitch, combined with Roberto Firmino, and curled a magnificently struck effort into the top corner of Louis Yamaguchi's goal.

Six minutes later it was two when Firmino wiggled into space on the right and lifted a ball back across the face of goal to be met by a flying leap of Kessié, the big Ivorian bundling the ball over the line from close range to give his side their decisive goal.

Ex-AC Milan and Barcelona man Franck Kessié scored a crucial second goal after Galeno's stunning opener to put Al Ahli firmly in control of the AFC Champions League Elite final inside shortly before halftime. Clicks Images/Getty Images

As they have done throughout their week in Jeddah, defeating perennial Qatari champions Al Saad and Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr to reach this point, Kawasaki didn't go quietly.

Moving to claim more possession in the second stanza after mostly serving as the reactive side in the first, they gamely came forward with a renewed sense of energy that belied their one-day's less rest. But staging a well-organised and disciplined rearguard, the hosts managed the game out; the mood in the stadium becoming increasingly boisterous as the full-time whistle grew near.

"It's never easy; there's a lot of pressure within such a match, it's not normal," said Jaissle. "You need to have a great personality and they showed that today. The second haf we defended, we wanted to keep a clean sheet."

Before kickoff, the Al Ahli starters -- Jaissle fielded the same XI in all three of his side's games this week -- stood arm-in-arm, absorbing a banner bearing a message from their supporters: "Eyes on the prize, Elite is ours to claim".

Surrounding them was a gigantic tifo that stretched out across two stands, picturing a pirate, spyglass pressed firmly to his face, fixated upon a chest bearing Al Ahli's logo and overflowing with gold.

The message felt clear. This was the time, and this was the moment.

Twice before had Al Ahli had reached this point, only to sink at the last hurdle, losing the final in 1986 and 2012. They entered as one of only four clubs to have fallen in multiple finals without success, but faced the prospect of standing alone as the first to lose three had they emerged empty handed once again on Saturday.

And this one, inarguably, would have stung the most. Not for the unwanted piece of history, but almost every advantage one could envision a team having was in their possession heading into the game.

Not only did they have that one day more to prepare, defeating Al Hilal on Tuesday night while Kawasaki downed Al Nassr on Wednesday, the decision to stage this game in Jeddah gave them a literal home-field advantage. This came against a side that had needed, in the middle of their domestic season, to fly 16 hours across the continent. Indeed, with Saudi Arabia on tap to host potentially several more years of the ACLE, the edge this decision gives local sides looms as a significant challenge for the competition's broader appeal and sense of equity in the years ahead.

Further, as one of four Saudi Pro League sides owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund PIF, their ranks were packed with imported top-end talent such as Firmino, Ivan Toney and Riyad Mahrez -- the latter's wages alone reportedly around three times the size of Kawasaki's entire squad.

A stellar campaign -- which included two assists in Saturday's final -- saw Al Ahli captain Roberto Firmino named the Most Valuable Player of the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite. Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

Conversely, much of the squad that had delivered Kawasaki its dominance of Japan during the late 2010s had moved on, those such as Kaoru Mitoma, Reo Hatate, Hidemasa Morita, and Ao Tanaka continuing their careers with European clubs.

It's at that point it should also be noted that Saturday wasn't just a win for Al Ahli, but for those overseeing the massive, state-sponsored investment in football in the Gulf nation. Had Al Ahli fell, the country faced the prospect of going trophyless on the continental stage for a second-straight year -- awkwardly contrasting their increasing dominance of football off the pitch with its fortunes on it.

Still, as Hasebe observed pre-game, "players aren't playing with their wallet or their credit card on the pitch." And while weight behind them can't be and shouldn't be denied, neither can the recognition that Al Ahli did their part to ensure this would not go to waste, producing a display that made them the deserved winner.

Kawasaki had their chances. Marcinho sent the second of two quick-fire attempts across the face of goal in the 11th minute in a moment that could have swung the game and, on another night, maybe the story is vastly different if they don't go into the main breakdown 2-0. But twice, Al Ahli capitalised on defensive lapses to score, and on multiple occasions up the other end, the Japanese side would start a move that forced the Al Ahli defence to begin to collapse, only to prove unable to capitalise with their next actions.

"For us, if we could have played as we planned, we could have won," Hasebe said through a translator.

"We made mistakes tonight when they scored the goals. Some of the players decisions, some of my decisions, were not correct."

Al Ahli's goal, meanwhile, didn't come in a vacuum. Toney twice threatened early and forced Yamaguchi into a diving save just minutes into the game. Centre-back Roger Ibañez got forward and curled a shot agonisingly wide from the top of the box in the 18th minute. Galeno played a one-two with Mahrez before drilling a shot at Yamaguchi in the 22nd minute. The signs were there.

And ultimately, through Galeno and Kessié, Al Ahli found that breakthrough, one they never looked like falling back from. And with it came a first Asian crown.

Joey Lynch is in Jeddah reporting on the AFC Champions League Elite Finals as a guest of the Asian Football Confederation.

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