AFC Champions League final. There will be two legs, and this is the first one which will be played at Yokohama Marinos’ stadium. The second leg will be played at Al Ain’s home.

For me Yokohama Marinos are clearly favorites to win the title. They have been one of the best teams in the tournament and made great performances so far. They surprised me in the semifinals, where they managed to survive in the first leg losing only 1:0 and made a comeback in the second leg winning 3:2 and qualifying in penalties. That was another survival game, as received a red card at 39’.

However, they deserve to be there as they showed a great competitive spirit and quality. They have good players such as the formidable Brazilian trio they have upfront: Elber, Yan Matheus and topscorer Anderson Lopes, who are their biggest threat. Wingers Elber and Yan Matheus are very dangerous in the counters at speed, while Lopes is one of the most deadly strikers in this tournament having scored in the Round of 16, both legs of the quarter-finals, and also in the semifinals.

They have back a key player - midfielder and captain Takuya Kida, who missed the semifinals due to an injury.

On the other hand, Al Ain has been pretty lucky in my opinion. They also managed to survive in the game against Al Hilal, losing 2:1 in the second leg of the semifinals. However, in that game they conceded a lot and deserved to lose by many more goals.

They deserved to be here as they managed to eliminate strong teams so far - Al Nassr and Al Hilal, who were among the title contenders.

Al Ain has a strong striker who is their main danger - tournament’s topscorer Soufiane Rahimi, who has scored 11 goals so far. Togo striker Kodjo Laba has also been a reliable source of goals. Creativity has come chiefly from Rahimi and diminutive Paraguayan No. 10 Kaku.

But as said above, Soufiane Rahimi will be their key player. He has been a valuable source of both goals and assists for Al Ain since arriving from Raja Casablanca in 2021. His speed and penchant for getting in behind defences - especially on the counter-attack – are a key weapon for Crespo’s side. Rahimi has reserved his best performances for continental competition this season.

Al Ain has a decent squad, but they aren’t even the best team in the UAE. This is their first participation in the AFC Champions League since 2020 (where they finished 4th in the group stage), so they are lacking experience as well.

Al Ain needs to defend very well here, as Yokohama Marinos will attack a lot as they have an offensive approach. Al Ain struggled a lot against Al Hilal who attacked a lot in the second leg, that’s why I expect them to struggle here as well.

I expect an open game with chances as goals for both sides, but I see Yokohama as the better team and able to win the first leg and take advantage for the second one.

亚冠决赛。比赛将进行两回合，第一回合将在横滨马里诺斯体育场进行。第二回合将在艾因的主场进行。

对我来说，横滨马里诺斯显然是夺冠的热门。他们是本届杯赛中最好的球队之一，迄今为止表现出色。他们在半决赛中的表现让我很惊讶，他们在首回合比赛中仅以1:0的比分险胜，并在次回合比赛中以3:2的比分反败为胜，通过点球晋级。那是另一场生存比赛，在39分钟时吃了一张红牌。

然而，他们应该在那里，因为他们展示了伟大的竞争精神和素质。他们拥有优秀的球员，比如他们锋线上强大的巴西三人组:埃尔伯、扬·马修斯和头号射手安德森·洛佩斯，他们是他们最大的威胁。边锋埃尔伯和扬·马修斯在快速反击中非常危险，而洛佩斯是本届杯赛中最致命的前锋之一，他在16强、四分之一决赛的两回合和半决赛中都有进球。

他们有一名关键球员——中场兼队长木田拓哉，他因伤错过了半决赛。

另一方面，在我看来，艾因很幸运。在半决赛第二回合与阿尔希拉尔的比赛中，他们以2:1的比分输掉了比赛。然而，在那场比赛中，他们丢了很多球，应该输更多的球。

他们当之无愧，因为他们成功地淘汰了迄今为止的强队——纳赛尔和希拉尔，他们是冠军争夺者之一。

艾因有一名强大的前锋，他是球队的主要威胁——本届杯赛的头号射手拉希米，他目前已经打进11球。多哥前锋科约·拉巴也是一个可靠的进球来源。创造力主要来自拉希米和身材矮小的巴拉圭10号卡库。

但正如上面所说，Soufiane Rahimi将是他们的关键球员。自2021年从卡萨布兰卡转会到阿尔艾因以来，他一直是进球和助攻的重要来源。他的速度和突破防守的能力——尤其是在反击中——是克雷斯波的关键武器。拉希米在本赛季的欧陆比赛中保留了他最好的表现。

艾因队的阵容不错，但他们甚至不是阿联酋最好的球队。这是他们自2020年(小组赛第四名)以来首次参加亚冠联赛，因此他们也缺乏经验。

阿尔艾因需要在这里很好地防守，因为横滨马里诺斯会经常进攻，因为他们有进攻性的方法。艾因在对阵希拉尔时表现得很挣扎，希拉尔在次回合进攻很多，这就是为什么我认为他们在这里也会很挣扎。

我期待一场开放的比赛，双方都有机会进球，但我认为横滨是一支更好的球队，他们有能力赢得首回合，并在第二回合占据优势。