AFC Champions League Elite format change: was new centralised finals event in Saudi Arabia a success?

The National

05-05-2025

The Asian Football Confederation might be an independent overseer of the game on the continent. But if they were not actively hoping Al Ahli made it all the way to this season's AFC Champions League Elite final, then they will at least have breathed a sigh of relief that they ultimately did. After all, the regional governing body had taken a risk when they opted to reinvent their premier club competition, and play a new finals event at one centralised hub. Gone are the guarantees of crowds that were inherent in the old format, where the final was played in home and away legs. As we saw when Al Ain beat Yokohama F Marinos at a packed Hazza bin Zayed Stadium to clinch last year's final. This time around, the last four surviving teams from East Asia, and the same from the West, travelled to Jeddah to player the quarters, semis and final. The final was set for King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, the magnificent 62,000-seater structure around 30 minutes from Jeddah's city centre. When Al Ahli – or their city rivals Al Ittihad – play at the ground informally known as The Jewel, it pulsates with the sort of atmosphere that has few rivals anywhere in world football. So it stood to reason it would pop once Ahli made it all the way to the final. Their 2-0 win over Kawasaki Frontale on Saturday was an epic event. The atmosphere had been whipped into a frenzy over the course of the eight-day finals schedule. By the end, the city was enraptured by it. Jeddah was brought, if not quite to a standstill, then at least a very slow crawl. As traffic crept towards the stadium for the final, entrepreneurs hawked green and white scarfs, armed with card readers for quicker transactions. Thousands of ticketless supporters surged on the gates, leading for them to be closed while the security operation was beefed up. Once the hometown club had sealed their first Asian title, via goals from Galeno and Franck Kessie, joy coursed through the stands. As the stage for the trophy ceremony was being set, a number of players ran off to the dressing room to get their phones to record the celebrations. Riyad Mahrez took photos of his daughter on the stage. Ivan Toney made off with two match balls to give to his kids. And Ali Majrashi, the Ahli full-back and fan favourite, was crying tears of happiness. All of which is fantastic. But it does beg the question, what would it have been like had the final been played out between a side from Japan and one from South Korea, for example? Or even an Emirati, Qatari or Iranian club? There would have been as much tumbleweed as tickertape. Even when Al Nassr – a Riyadh-based club who have the sport's most recognisable player, Cristiano Ronaldo, in their ranks – faced Kawasaki Frontale in the semi-final, the ground was less than half full. The first phase of the competition was also revamped this year, along similar lines to the larger league structures than Uefa have done in Europe, too. There was then a round of double-legged ties – as the knock-out stage formerly was – in the last 16, as a bridge between the league phase and the finals. The three teams from Saudi Arabia topped the West zone, and they made it through their last 16 ties, too. Having Ahli and Al Hilal – another Riyadh club, but who have fans all over Saudi Arabia – in the finals phase guaranteed a decent turn out. The event will culminate in Jeddah again next year, and there are tweaks that can be made. For example, it would be fairer if the four quarter-finals are played over the space of two days, rather than three. Kawasaki, the winners of the last quarter-final, had to play all three matches within the space of six days. That is two days less than Hilal, who won the first quarter-final, would have had had they made it to the final. The tight schedule realistically favours the sides with the biggest budgets and therefore the bigger squads. You might assume that to be the Saudi Arabian clubs, but Kawasaki disproved that theory, thanks to clever management. They made six changes to their starting XI between the quarter-final and semi. They then made two more substitutions at half time in that game against Nassr, and had used all five replacements before 70 minutes were on the clock. It was all part of a perfectly executed masterplan by their coach, Shigetoshi Hasebe, who brought about the downfall of Ronaldo and Co. No wonder the club's fans love him. Ahead of the final, they were waving a sign carrying his image, with the message: 'Hasebe Frontale.' His expertise could only take them so far, and they were beaten by the best team in the competition in the final. Ahli definitely benefited from having such vociferous backing in the final, and they will be excited by the prospect of havening similar for their defence next season. Whether anyone from beyond Saudi Arabia - particularly those who have to travel from the other side of the continent - can mount a challenge is going to be intriguing to see.