Al‑Ahli 0-0 Machida Zelvia LIVE Score, AFC Champions League: Defending Champs Kick Off Against Debutants

First effort on target, and it comes from Machida Zelvia. A good first-time cross from the right is met by Nakamura, who did well to leap over his marker. However, it's gathered by Mendy.

Al-Ahli have come out with a shoot on sight policy to break the resolute Machida defence. A corner from the right is played to Galeno outside the box, and the Brazilian connects with the ball well. However, his shot goes wide.

It's an incredible atmosphere in Jeddah, with the Japanese fans trying their best to drown out the home crowd. Smoke from the stands hangs heavy in the air as Al-Ahli take the kick-off to get tonight's AFC Champions League Elite final underway!

As we await kick-off, a bit of bad news for the Indian football fans. Despite the Asian Football Confederation increasing the spots in the AFC Champions League Elite, Indian Super League (ISL) clubs will be forced to play only in the Champions League 2, which is the second tier continental tournament.

Starting XI: Kosei Tani; Gen Shoji (c), Daihachi Okamura, Yuta Nakayama; Hotaka Nakaumra, Neta Lavi, Hiroyuki Mae, Kotaro Hayashi; Erik, Tete Yengi, Yuki Soma.

Bench: Tatsuya Morita (gk), Yoshiaki Arai (gk), Ibrahim Dresevic, Keiya Sento, Hokuto Shimoda, Henry Heroki Mochizuki, Asahi Masuyama, Ryohei Shirasaki, Shota Fuijo, Futa Tokamura, Kanji Kuwayama, Sang-Ho Na.

Starting XI: Edouard Mendy (c); Rayan Hamed, Merih Demiral, Roger Ibanez, XZakaria Hawsawi; Valentin Atangana Edoa, Franck Kessie; Riyad Mahrez, Enzo Millot, Wenderson Galeno; Ivan Toney.

Bench: Abdulrahman Al Sanbi (gk), Abdullah Abdo (gk), Mohammed Abdulrahman, Matteo Dams, Yazan Madani, Mohammed Sulaiman, Matheus Goncalves, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, Ziyad Aljohani, Eid Al Muwallad, Firas Al-Buraikan, Ricardo Mathias.

Machida Zelvia will enter the final as huge underdogs, but the Japanese club have enjoyed a unique journey so far. Only two decades ago, they were down in the seventh tier of Japanese football. Go Kuroda, their head coach, is a former high school trainer. Now, they are in the final in their debut campaign in the AFC Champions League Elite.

• Fixture: Al-Ahli Saudi vs Machida Zelvia

• Series: AFC Champions League Elite 2025-26

• Venue: Alimna Bank Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

• Date: Saturday, April 25, 2026

• Time: 9:45 PM IST

Good evening, football fans! This is the start of our live blog covering the AFC Champions League Elite final between Al-Ahli and Machida Zelvia in Jeddah. Stay tuned for pre-match updates and line-ups as they are released.