Al Brikan strikes in extra-time as Al-Ahli retain Asian Champions League title

JEDDAH: Ten-man Al-Ahli retained the Asian Champions League Elite title on Saturday as Feras Al-Brikan’s extra-time strike earned the Saudi Pro League side a 1-0 win over Japan’s Machida Zelvia at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Matthias Jaissle’s side became only the second team to retain the trophy in the Asian Champions League era after cross-Jeddah rivals Al-Ittihad in 2005, having seen Zakaria Hawsawi sent off in the 68th minute.

BACK-TO-BACK ASIAN KINGS!

The Continent remains GREEN #AlAhli | #ACLElite | #LetsGoWithAlAhli pic.twitter.com/4QxHFBqKrx

— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FCEN) April 25, 2026

Al-Ahli held out despite being outnumbered to take the match into an ‌additional 30 ‌minutes and substitute Al-Brikan struck from close ‌range ⁠to give his ⁠team back-to-back titles.
The win came in front of the Al-Ahli fans with their Jeddah base hosting the centralized eight-team finals tournament for the second season in a row.
A crowd of almost 59,000 turned out to see Machida keeper Kosei Tani throw himself to his right to keep out Galeno’s 13th-minute ⁠effort after Enzo Millot’s pass behind Hotaka Nakamura ‌had split the Machida defense.
Daihachi ‌Okamura’s follow-up clearance prevented Ivan Toney from netting the rebound.

Gold just looks right on us a href="https://www.arabnews.com/%3Ca%20href%3D"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlAhli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlAhli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlAhli | #ACLElite | #LetsGoWithAlAhli pic.twitter.com/UCH1vmveVt

— Al-Ahli Saudi Club (@ALAHLI_FCEN) April 25, 2026

Merih Demiral’s ‌close-range effort clipped the top of the crossbar with ‌three minutes left in the half when Galeno’s in-swinging cross from the right caused