Snapshot of the 2019 final between Al-Hilal and Urawa
There is no more repeated continental clash in the Club Championship than the match between Al Hilal Saudi Arabia and Japan’s Urawa, as this Asian encounter equals its counterparts in Europe and Oceania and surpasses other continents.
Urua host their rival Al-Hilal in the second leg of the AFC Champions League on Saturday afternoon at the turf of the “Saidama” stadium, after the first leg ended in a positive draw, which ended with one goal. The same.
The final is the most frequent final in the AFC Champions League, with the two teams meeting 3 times, first with Japan winning in 2017, then Al Hilal taking revenge in 2019 to claim the gold medal. And the trophy is still a mess between the two teams in the third clash before the meeting.
And in the Old European continent, Real Madrid, Spain and England’s Liverpool have lost 3 times in the finals of the parent competition of the European Champions League clubs. England won once in the 1980-1981 season, then the giants in the Spanish capital last two times in 2017 and 2022, 3-1 and 1- Won by 0 runs.
In the subcontinent of Oceania, the Auckland club reached the continental final on 10 occasions and won all of them, often against compatriot Tim Wellington in 3 consecutive finals between the 2014–2015 and 2016–2017 seasons.
As for the remaining three continents, Africa and North and South America, the number of finals is often only twice.
In the CONCACAF Champions League, Mexicans Monterrey and Santos Laguna faced each other in the 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 seasons, with the former winning.
Also, Egypt’s Al-Ahly are the leading teams to have reached the final of the African Champions League, winning the trophy and playing against both Tunisia’s Esperance and Etoile du Sahel, Morocco’s Wydad and Ghana’s Ashanti Kotoko. Twice, Wydad faced its opponents Taraji twice, Congolese Mazembe twice lost in the final against Kotoko, Egyptian Zamalek twice won the title at the expense of Nigerian Shooting Stars out of 5 trophies they own.
Finally, in South America, the final was repeated twice between several teams, notably Brazilian Santos who played twice against Uruguayan Peñarol, as well as Argentina against Boca Juniors, while Argentina Estudiantes faced its Uruguayan national team twice. River Plate have previously played Colombia’s America de Cali in two finals.
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