NEWS
ACL Final Round 2 vs Al Hilal "The most in the history of the tournament, 3rd ACL win!"
On the 6th, Urawa Reds faced off against Al-Hilal in the second leg of the AFC Champions League (ACL) 2022 Knockout Stage Final at Saitama Stadium.
For the Reds, Ken Iwao 's FK was headed back by Marius Houbolaten, and Shinzo Koroki 's move led to the opponent's own goal to open the scoring. After that, he continued to fight without losing concentration and won the second round 1-0, and with a total of 2-1 in the two games, he won the ACL for the third time, the first time in five tournaments since 2017 and the most in the history of the tournament.
In the first half, the Reds players, who were greeted by overwhelming visual support, showed a fighting attitude from the start.
While trying to steal the ball from the front by putting pressure on the opposing GK, defending with a well-organized defense when the opponent builds up and builds up, and is quick to attack the space when the opponent has a ball. The attack was developed while properly using the build-up from the attack and the final line.
After 20 minutes, the ball was connected in the Shusaku Nishikawa area, and the attack was developed from right to left and center, followed by a CK. They don't allow a goal with their body-stretched defense.
If you endure firmly in the opponent's time zone, the Reds will gradually grasp the pace. While stealing the ball with their fierce defense in the midfield, they continued to launch quick vertical attacks.
Then, in the 30th minute, Hiroki Sakai, who received the ball on the right side, overtook the Koroki and sent in a cross. It was a splendid attack that showed each player's strengths, but the ball hit the crossbar and went over the frame. Unfortunately no goals were scored.
After that, as coach Maciej Skorza said at the press conference the day before, the team played more openly than in the first game, and continued to repel the opponent's attacks with concentration while aiming for the goal, ending the first half with a score of 0-0.
In the second half, the Reds players were welcomed by visual support that was different from the first half. Takahiro Sekine, a veteran of the 2019 final, who showed a fighting spirit in both offense and defense from the first half, dribbled past three players at once on the left side, and the Reds dominated the ball.
Then, in the 48th minute, Yoshio Koizumi received a foul on a skillful turn, and it came from a FK. A center position slightly out of the enemy side of the center circle. Iwao sent the ball to the left side of the opponent's penalty area, and Koroki headed it back. In addition to taking the lead in this game, they took the lead with a total of 2-1 in the two games.
Even after taking the lead, the Reds players continued to fight with the flow before the first goal without going into defense.
In the 72nd minute, Koroki, who was involved in the goal, Koizumi's replacement, Jose Kante, and Kaito Yasui entered the pitch, and two minutes later, they created a chance. Yasui stole the ball from Sekine's pressure, and Kante, who received the ball from Yasui, dribbled it and passed it to the right space. Tomoaki Okubo received this and entered the opponent's penalty area and shot, but could not catch the frame.
Even in a pinch, if Alexander Scholz bounced a cross with a quick cover, Nishikawa would firmly hold down the loose ball and prevent Al-Hilal from creating a chance.
Everyone, including Kai Shibato and Takuya Ogiwara who entered the pitch in the 86th minute, continued to focus on the fight, and in the 90+1 minute, Nishikawa made a big save and locked the goal.
Urawa Red Urawa Reds continued to fight through the four minutes of injury time, finishing the second match 1-0 and the two-game total 2-1, to become the top of Asia.
At the post-match ceremony, the winning cup escorted by youth coach Yuki Abe was received by Sakai, the captain who won the MVP award, and powerfully lifted it with Nishikawa, who fought as captain until the semi-finals.
The next match will be against Sagan Tosu in the 10th round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League at Saitama Stadium on May 10 (Wednesday) at 19:30.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
For the Reds, Ken Iwao 's FK was headed back by Marius Houbolaten, and Shinzo Koroki 's move led to the opponent's own goal to open the scoring. After that, he continued to fight without losing concentration and won the second round 1-0, and with a total of 2-1 in the two games, he won the ACL for the third time, the first time in five tournaments since 2017 and the most in the history of the tournament.
In the first half, the Reds players, who were greeted by overwhelming visual support, showed a fighting attitude from the start.
While trying to steal the ball from the front by putting pressure on the opposing GK, defending with a well-organized defense when the opponent builds up and builds up, and is quick to attack the space when the opponent has a ball. The attack was developed while properly using the build-up from the attack and the final line.
After 20 minutes, the ball was connected in the Shusaku Nishikawa area, and the attack was developed from right to left and center, followed by a CK. They don't allow a goal with their body-stretched defense.
If you endure firmly in the opponent's time zone, the Reds will gradually grasp the pace. While stealing the ball with their fierce defense in the midfield, they continued to launch quick vertical attacks.
Then, in the 30th minute, Hiroki Sakai, who received the ball on the right side, overtook the Koroki and sent in a cross. It was a splendid attack that showed each player's strengths, but the ball hit the crossbar and went over the frame. Unfortunately no goals were scored.
After that, as coach Maciej Skorza said at the press conference the day before, the team played more openly than in the first game, and continued to repel the opponent's attacks with concentration while aiming for the goal, ending the first half with a score of 0-0.
In the second half, the Reds players were welcomed by visual support that was different from the first half. Takahiro Sekine, a veteran of the 2019 final, who showed a fighting spirit in both offense and defense from the first half, dribbled past three players at once on the left side, and the Reds dominated the ball.
Then, in the 48th minute, Yoshio Koizumi received a foul on a skillful turn, and it came from a FK. A center position slightly out of the enemy side of the center circle. Iwao sent the ball to the left side of the opponent's penalty area, and Koroki headed it back. In addition to taking the lead in this game, they took the lead with a total of 2-1 in the two games.
Even after taking the lead, the Reds players continued to fight with the flow before the first goal without going into defense.
In the 72nd minute, Koroki, who was involved in the goal, Koizumi's replacement, Jose Kante, and Kaito Yasui entered the pitch, and two minutes later, they created a chance. Yasui stole the ball from Sekine's pressure, and Kante, who received the ball from Yasui, dribbled it and passed it to the right space. Tomoaki Okubo received this and entered the opponent's penalty area and shot, but could not catch the frame.
Even in a pinch, if Alexander Scholz bounced a cross with a quick cover, Nishikawa would firmly hold down the loose ball and prevent Al-Hilal from creating a chance.
Everyone, including Kai Shibato and Takuya Ogiwara who entered the pitch in the 86th minute, continued to focus on the fight, and in the 90+1 minute, Nishikawa made a big save and locked the goal.
Urawa Red Urawa Reds continued to fight through the four minutes of injury time, finishing the second match 1-0 and the two-game total 2-1, to become the top of Asia.
At the post-match ceremony, the winning cup escorted by youth coach Yuki Abe was received by Sakai, the captain who won the MVP award, and powerfully lifted it with Nishikawa, who fought as captain until the semi-finals.
The next match will be against Sagan Tosu in the 10th round of the Meiji Yasuda J1 League at Saitama Stadium on May 10 (Wednesday) at 19:30.
[Urawa Reds Official Media (URD:OM)]
