Sepahan take on Urawa Red Diamonds in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final on Wednesday. The Iranian Hazfi Cup holders will be hoping to make home advantage count as they welcome the Japanese champions to their Foolad Shahr Stadium in Esfahan, where they have won three times, drawn twice, and never lost in this year's competition.

Luka Bonacic's Iranians scraped through a tough group alongside Saudi champions Al Shabab and United Arab Emirates giants Al Ain. They got off to a flying start with a 2-1 home win against Al Ittihad of Syria, thanks to a brace from Seyed Mohamad Salehi. The 26-year-old forward also scored the winner in a 1-0 win at Al Shabab, but another of his goals could not keep the Iranians from losing 3-2 to Al Ain. Sepahan were then held to a 1-1 draw at home against Al Ain, but ultimately secured top spot with a 5-0 demolition of Al Ittihad and a hard-fought 1-0 scrap Al Shabab.

Having reached the knockout stage for the first time, Sepahan then endured a goalless 210 minutes of football in the quarter-final against Kawasaki Frontale, before edging out the J-Leaguers 5-4 in a penalty shootout. Mahmoud Karimi put an end to the goal draught with a brace in a 3-1 home win against Al Wahda in the semi-final first leg, and a 0-0 draw in Abu Dhabi was enough for Sepahan to secure a place in the final.

Mighty Reds
Urawa are the only unbeaten team so far in this year's tournament. Pitted in a group featuring the champions of Australia (Sydney FC) and Indonesia (Persik Kediri), Holger Osieck's side made an impressive debut to this year's competition by winning 3-0 at home the Indonesian reps. The Reds fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Sydney FC, then beat Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 at home. Subsequently held to 0-0 and 3-3 draws away to Shanghai and Persik, Urawa grabbed a ticket to the knockout stage with a goalless draw at home with Sydney.

Awaiting them in the quarter-final were defending champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. However, the Reds dominated the first leg to win 2-1 at home, and went on to progress with a 2-0 victory in Jeonju. Urawa faced another trip to Korea in the semi-final first leg, where they drew 2-2 with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Although the second leg in Saitama was a carbon copy of the battle in Seongnam, the Reds managed to eliminate the K-League champions 5-3 on penalties.

History lessons
In only their third appearance in Asia's premier club competition following the early exits in the group stages in 2004 and 2005, Sepahan stormed into this year's final. They are the fourth Iranian side to reach the final since Taj Club and Pas won the Asian Club Championship (the forerunner of the AFC Champions League) in 1970 and 1992 respectively. Esteghlal made three appearances in the final as well, winning the 1990 edition before finishing second in 1991 and 1999.

Despite being the tournament's debutants, Urawa will take heart from the past, when three semi-professional clubs from Japan dominated the continental scene in the late 1980s. Furukawa and Yomiuri won the championship in 1986 and 1987 respectively, before Nissan finished runners-up in 1989. More recently, J-League outfit Jubilo Iwata reached three successive finals from 1999 to 2001, winning the first final between clubs from Japan and Iran in 1999.

AFC Champions League Final Series:
First leg, 7 November 2007
Sepahan - Urawa Red Diamonds

Second leg, 11 November 2007
Urawa Red Diamonds - Sepahan