Urawa Red Diamonds Crowned AFC Champions League Winners for Third Time

Written by Ahmed Harby

Saturday, May 06, 2023 01:59 PM

crowned club Japanese Urawa Red Diamonds The AFC Champions League title, after defeating its Saudi guest Al-Hilal with a free goal in the confrontation that brought them together at the famous Saitama Stadium, after the first-leg match ended in Riyadh, with a score of 1-1..

And Andre Carrillo scored the Japanese goal by Urawa by mistake in the 48th minute of the second half and the match.

Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds won the title AFC Champions League For the third time in its history, after winning it only twice throughout history, it also finished runner-up once again.

Urawa won the first title in 2007 after defeating Iranian Sepahan in the final, the second title in 2017 at the expense of Al-Hilal, and the third title at the expense of Al-Hilal also today for the 2023 season, and the only runner-up was in 2019 against Al-Hilal as well..

The formation of the Saudi Hilal in the Champions League final came as follows:

Goalkeeper: Abdullah Al-Mayouf

Defense line: Saud Abdul Hamid, Jang Hyun Soo, Ali Al Bulayhi, Muhammad Al Burik.

Midfield: Mohamed Kno, Andre Carrillo, Abdullah Al-Hamdan.

Offensive line: Odion Ighalo, Michel Delgado.

On the other hand, Polish Maciej Skorza, coach of Urawa Diamonds, announced his formation, which came as follows:

Goalkeeper: Shusuko Nishikawa

Defenders: Hiroki Sakai, Alexander Schulz, Marius Huibraten, Takehiro Sekini

Midfielders: Atsuki Ito, Ken Ayao, Yoshio Koizumi, Takahiro Akimoto

Attack: Tomoaki Okubo, Shinzo Koroki.

And Al Hilal Saudi Arabia, the defending champion, failed to defend its title and consolidate its power with a record fifth title after 1991, 2000, 2019 and 2021.

Urawa succeeded in winning a third title after 2007 and 2017, when the Japanese team, led by Polish coach Machij Skorza, armed its fans, which will exceed 50,000 spectators..