A 2-0 first-leg win meant Urawa took a strong advantage into the return meeting at Tianhe Stadium, although Guangzhou had gone 21 home games unbeaten on the Continent and had never been eliminated by a Japanese side in the knockout stage.

Kuala Lumpur: Shusaku Nishikawa has been named as the Toyota Player of the Week after the goalkeeper's stand-out performance in Urawa Red Diamonds' 1-0 victory away at Guangzhou Evergrande on Wednesday helped his side into the 2019 AFC Champions League Final.

The custodian had blanked Guangzhou's dangerous attacking line-up in the first leg in Saitama at the beginning of October and he recorded a second clean sheet at the intimidating Tianhe Stadium.

Unlike in Japan, where he was rarely troubled, Nishikawa was called into action on multiple occasions in southern China and pulled off eight saves, the highest in the knockout stage and joint-third highest overall at the 2019 AFC Champions League, to earn an 8.7 rating.

On the same pitch but wearing the red shirt of Guangzhou, Zhang Linpeng (below), came in second in this week’s rankings after the full-back put in an impressive shift despite his side ultimately failing to progress to a third final.

Urawa’s 2-0 first-leg win over the Chinese side three weeks ago gave them the upper hand going into the return meeting at the Tianhe Stadium on Wednesday and, after withstanding first-half pressure, Koroki’s 50th-minute goal all but killed the tie off as the 2007 and 2017 champions secured a 3-0 aggregate victory.

Urawa have been struggling domestically as they hover dangerously near the J.League relegation zone but have been superb on the Continent and the striker, who notched his eighth goal of the campaign, revealed that his teammates were spurred by comments made by Guangzhou’s Italian coach.

Shinzo Koroki’s 50th minute header sealed Urawa’s place in the final, where they will meet Al Hilal SFC from Saudi Arabia in a rematch of the 2017 decider, as the J.League side completed a 3-0 aggregate win over Chinese Super League leaders Guangzhou Evergrande.

Koroki’s 50th minute goal earned Urawa a 3-0 aggregate win over the Chinese Super League leaders and ensured the final will be a repeat of the 2017 clash, when Urawa defeated Al Hilal from Saudi Arabia over two legs to claim their second AFC Champions League crown.

The pair will face off again after Al Hilal's win over Al Sadd from Qatar on Tuesday evening and Urawa will now have the chance to become the first club to win the trophy on three occasions, having seen off a Guangzhou side attempting to overcome a two-goal first leg deficit to keep their own hopes of a third AFC Champions League title alive.

Guangzhou’s quest for a third continental title came to an end on Wednesday when Shinzo Koroki’s second half header ensured Urawa added the Chinese Super League leaders’ scalp to that of Beijing FC and Shanghai SIPG.

Urawa eliminated Beijing in the group phase before defeating Shanghai in the quarter-finals and claimed their third Chinese victim at the Tianhe Stadium when they finished off a 3-0 aggregate win over Cannavaro’s team.