In many ways, the first two seasons of the AFC Champions League Elite Finals have shown up a class divide in Asian football.
When the competition switched to its new format last season, with all fixtures from quarter-finals onwards played at two dapper stadiums in Jeddah, most discussion surrounded the huge financial disparities.
Broadly, the new tournament pitted the haves of West Asia against the have-nots from the East. But, even within that, there were degrees.
For example, Qatar’s entrant, Al Sadd, might have had a few household names and some well-heeled players. But even they were giving away a gulf in financial might to their neighbours from Saudi Arabia.
But, as the manager of last year’s defeated finalists Kawasaki Frontale put it, football is not played with wallets and credit cards.
The very best remunerated are not even here this time around. Cristiano Ronaldo was the starriest figure in last year’s tournament, but is absent as his Al Nassr side did not qualify for the competition to start with.
Already this month, there has been giant-killing. Karim Benzema, Theo Hernandez, and all the other stars of Al Hilal did not even make it to the finals phase proper, after exiting on penalties to Sadd in the last 16.
In turn, that Sadd side, coached by Roberto Mancini and with Roberto Firmino – who was a champion with Al Ahli Saudi last season – leading the line, were then dumped out by Japan’s Vissel Kobe.
All of which should put Dubai’s Shabab Al Ahli on guard for their quarter-final tie against Buriram United, of Thailand, on Saturday.
Safe to assume, the budget of the UAE champions exceeds that of the little-talked-about Buriram.
They have Paulo Sousa as their coach. Back in his playing days, the former Portugal midfielder counted Roberto Baggio, Brazil’s Ronaldo, and Luis Figo among his teammates.
By contrast, his opposite number at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City on Saturday is Mark Jackson.
When Sousa was already into a coaching career that has taken in three Premier League clubs, Fiorentina, and Flamengo, among many others, Jackson was playing out his career in the lower reaches of the English league. He enjoyed his best days at Scunthorpe United and Kidderminster Harriers.
And yet it is for good reason that Sousa is treating the game with care. Buriram have dominated Thai football for years, and are one of only three teams to make it back to the Elite Finals tournament from last year. The others being Sadd, who went out on Thursday night, and defending champions Al Ahli.
“They are a team who have had sustained success,” Sousa said of Buriram. “In all facets of the game, in defence and attack, they will be very difficult to face.
“This is one of the best teams we could face, and we have to be very focused in order to take advantage of every opportunity. We have to respect everything they do, and be brave with and without the ball.”
Jackson is up for the challenge of pitting his side against the UAE champions.
“Part of our process in how we work for every game, for every opponent, is to analyse them in depth,” Jackson said.
“Myself and my coaching team do that very well. We try to uncover everything about what the opponent will bring to the game and what we can exploit as well.
“I had the privilege of watching the game here against Tractor [which Shabab Al Ahli won 3-0 to reach the quarter-final], so we know they're a very, very good team. But we identified some areas where we feel we can exploit.”
That win over Tractor on Tuesday was the latest in a sequence of physically and emotionally draining games for Shabab Al Ahli.
They won the double last season, and had been maintaining that standard this time around until recent weeks.
They exited the UAE President’s Cup to Al Jazira, while their UAE Pro League title defence might have been dealt a terminal blow with a 3-2 loss to Al Ain on Friday night.
They did well to raise themselves from that disappointment to beat Tractor, but even that win was coloured by emotion.
Playing against the champions of their homeland, Iranian stars Sardar Azmoun and Saeed Ezatolahi both featured in key moments of that win.
Their string of “cup finals” will continue against Buriram, and Sousa is hopeful his players can rouse themselves for the challenge again.
“The difficulty is there was not a big rotation of players, and depending on the needs of the match, we have different capabilities that we will need,” Sousa said.
“I hope we have enough choices to really have the best players at the best time possible.”
