Coach Jorge Fossati said his Al Sadd side had overcome "injustice" stemming from a foul-tempered semi-final after they became the first Qatari club to reach the Asian Champions League final. Al Sadd will have their work cut out in the November 5 final against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who will be playing at home as they bid to keep Asia's top club title in South Korean hands for the third year running.
Jeonbuk went through with a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in Wednesday's semi-finals, to make it 5-3 on aggregate. But fellow K-League team Suwon Samsung Bluewings were unable to make it an all-Korean final. Although they beat Al Sadd 1-0 away, they went out 2-1 on aggregate after the Qatari side's controversial 2-0 win in the first leg, when a mass brawl saw both teams trade punches in an ugly late-game melee.
The Asian Football Confederation suspended two Al Sadd players from the second leg, and one from Suwon. "You know we had to play this game with big injustice. We didn't have some players because of non-football issues," Fossati said. "In this situation, we tried to do our best with whatever resources we had," the Uruguayan said.