The three teams entered the semi-finals together, and the pattern was one-sided! AFC Champions League Saudi giants "dimensionality reduction strike"

The reporter reported coldly In the face of absolute superiority in all aspects, any rhetoric is futile. At the end of the 1/4 finals of the AFC Champions League Elite League, the whole team is worth more than 170 million euros, and the three Saudi giants who lead the East Asian region off a cliff have the advantage of the right time and place, and they all easily defeated their opponents in Japan, South Korea and Thailand with a big score and entered the semi-finals together. In the 3 1/4 finals, the goals scored and conceded by the top three teams of Saudi Arabia and the three teams of the East Asian region were as high as 14 to 1, which was completely a dimensionality reduction blow.

The AFC Champions League, which has had the upper hand in East Asia since the 21st century, will be completely reversed. Under the premise of unlimited foreign aid and the Saudi league continuing to burn money to introduce top foreign aid, the East Asian region, especially the Chinese Super League teams, will face unprecedented difficulties if they want to make a difference. At least for a long time to come, Saudi Arabia's dominance of the AFC Champions League will be a trend that will be difficult to change.

Saudi Arabia won the right to host the final stage of the top 8 of the AFC Champions League elite league in order to use the home advantage to achieve group monopoly. Before the game, the three teams of Japan and South Korea, which are stronger in the East Asian region, are quite confident, and Gwangju FC, which has eliminated the defending champion of the J1 League Kobe Victory Boat in the 1/8 finals, coach Lee Jung-hyo shouted the slogan of competing for the championship, and the main midfielder Park Tae-jun received special approval to postpone his military service and go all out to compete in the AFC Champions League. Gwangju FC also filmed a documentary on the final stage of the AFC Champions League quarterfinals, the first episode of the team's preparation before the game, and the next episode of the Riyadh Crescent match on May 9.

The J-League is a joint charter flight between Yokohama Mariner and Kawasaki Frontale, with a total of 300 J-League officials, staff and support staff, and an unprecedented number of delegations to overseas competitions. Before the game, the coaches of the two teams believed that the Japanese team, which has reached the final five times in the last seven AFC Champions Leagues and won the championship three times, has the strength to challenge the Saudi giants who are 10 times more valuable than themselves. The Yokohama Mariners, who have just changed their coach, also reached the AFC Champions League final last year, and they are even more ambitious.

However, when they really entered the game, the East Asian team realized that the comparison of strength with the Saudi giants was directly proportional to the difference in the value of the team. Riyadh Crescent, which started with nine foreign players, had a 3-0 lead in the first half for 33 minutes, and scored four more goals in the second half to beat Gwangju, who shouted for the championship before the game, 7-0. This is also the premise that Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo retired injured in the first half and replaced Brazilian striker Leonardo early in the second half. In the second half, Riyadh Crescent, who had seven foreign players, scored three goals in nine minutes, allowing Gwangju FC, which had only two foreign players for most of the time, to create the biggest defeat for a Korean team in the AFC Champions League. After the game, Riyadh Crescent coach Gabriel Jesus made a shut-up gesture to Gwangju FC coach Lee Jung-hyo and refused to shake his hand, which made the South Korean media even more embarrassed.

The 7-0 win equalled Riyadh Crescent's record for the biggest win in the AFC Club Cup/AFC Champions League, with the last 7-0 win being in the 2022 AFC Champions League semi-finals against Qatari giants Al-Duhail. It was also Riyadh Crescent's biggest win against an East Asian team, following a 2-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds and Pohang Steelers in the 2019 and 2021 AFC Champions League finals respectively. The biggest defeat of South Korean teams in the AFC Champions League against West Asian teams was 0-5, respectively in the 2004 AFC Champions League final Seongnam Il and Tianma and the 2005 AFC Champions League semi-final Busan Idol, against Saudi Arabia's Jeddah United.

Yokohama Mariners, who entered the AFC Champions League final last year, also fell behind 0-3 in 38 minutes in the first half, and fell behind Ronaldo's Riyadh Victory 0-4 in 49 minutes, with a huge gap in strength. Riyadh Victory only sent 7 foreign players to start, and replaced Cristiano Ronaldo and other 3 main players early in the second half. Yokohama Mariner made three substitutions at halftime in an attempt to save face, but Kota Watanabe, who scored the goal, was sent off in the 73rd minute, and there was no suspense in the game.

Jeddah Nationals, who also started with 9 foreign aids, easily led Buriram United, which started 8 foreign aids, 3-0 in 30 minutes in the first half, which was the fastest record of scoring 3 goals against opponents in the AFC Champions League in team history. Buriram United drew with J1 League champion Vissel Kobe in the AFC Champions League, and this game is also the fastest AFC Champions League record in team history to concede 3 goals. Buriram United replaced 3 foreign players in the second half to play the full foreign aid team, but Jeddah National replaced 3 main foreign players early to save strength for the semi-finals, so they did not play a bigger score.

Before 2013, the AFC Champions League knockout rounds were not divided, and in 2012, Saudi Arabia reached the quarterfinals in the top three, and only Jeddah entered the top four. It is now the first time that a single league team has occupied 3 seats in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, and the disparity of 14-1 in the total score of the three games in the quarterfinals is also unprecedented. Although Yokohama Mariners interim coach Kisnobo is still emphasizing that there is not much difference in strength between East and West Asia, the main striker Asahi Uechu frankly admitted that he was shocked by the individual strength and ball control skills of the Riyadh Victory foreign players, and captain Ken Matsubara emphasized that the opponent has strong individual ability, and any mistake will be caught and conceded.

South Korean media lamented that in the face of the three Saudi giants, the three East Asian teams all fell behind 0-3 early in the first half, and the difference in strength was too obvious. "East Asia Sports" believes that the K1 league must consider removing foreign aid restrictions in order to have the possibility of confronting the Saudi giants. Otherwise, the South Korean team will have no chance to win the AFC Champions League and participate in the Club World Cup, and the AFC Champions League will become an "internal event" for Saudi teams in the future. The strongest Japanese and South Korean teams in East Asia are still aware of the huge crisis, how should the Chinese Super League choose in the AFC Champions League?