Al Ain, the most successful club in the United Arab Emirates, turned the series on its head and crowned themselves the best team in Asian football.

The hosts had lost the first leg 2-1, but two goals from Soufiane Rahimi, a penalty from Kaku and a late brace from Kodjo Laba ensured a 6-3 aggregate victory after Yokohama goalkeeper William Popp saw red on the stroke of half-time.

Al Ain, the United Arab Emirates' most successful club, won the inaugural AFC Champions League final in 2003 and finished runners-up in 2005 and 2016.

"It's really hard to describe the emotions," said Crespo, who joined Al Ain in November and was surrounded by jubilant players as he spoke to reporters. "We deserve this title. We were always the underdogs in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and even the final," said the former Argentina striker of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"At the beginning, nobody believed in us and we did it. These guys, these players, have done something great," added the former Parma F.C. (Italy) top scorer with 94 goals.

On their way to the final, Al Ain eliminated Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the quarter-finals and ended Saudi giants Al Hilal's 34-game winning streak in the semi-finals.

In a showdown with an old acquaintance from European competition in the first decade of this century, the Argentine emerged victorious over the Australian.

The rivalry between Argentina's Crespo and Australia's Kewell in the Champions League at the time had gone in favour of Kewell, who helped Liverpool come back from 3-0 down at half-time (Crespo had scored two goals) in the memorable UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul in 2005, which the English team won on penalties against A.C. Milan.

Now Yokohama coach Harry Kewell was furious at the first-half penalty, criticising the referee and what he described as Al Ain's unsporting behaviour.

"We play at a level where sportsmanship should be high. I thought the referee was bad tonight and allowed certain things to happen. It was never a penalty," said the Australian.

"It's quite difficult to get a structure when you're playing against a referee who was terrible... it hurts, it really hurts," he complained.

With temperatures still in the high 30s, the match between Al Ain and Yokohama was a spectacle to behold. Al Ain took the lead in the first minute with a masterpiece of play: a precise pass from Yahia Nader was followed by an unstoppable shot from Rahimi, the tournament's top scorer, for his twelfth goal in the competition.

Despite a strong effort from Ken Matsubara, it was Al Ain who doubled their lead in the 34th minute when Shinnosuke Hatanaka was adjudged to have fouled Rahimi in the area. After a VAR review, a penalty was awarded in Al Ain's favour and Paraguay international Kaku converted the spot-kick to send the home crowd into a frenzy.

Yokohama reduced the deficit when Yan Matheus intercepted a ball in mid-air, beat Kouame Kouadio and unleashed a powerful left-footed shot to make it 2-1 and 3-3 on aggregate.

However, the first half of the match was marred for Yokohama when their goalkeeper William Popp was sent off in stoppage time for a late challenge on Rahimi.

In the second half, Al Ain made the most of their numerical advantage and put the exhausted Yokohama under pressure. Rahimi capitalised on a rebound to score the decisive goal in the 67th minute, leaving Yokohama without a response.

The visitors battled to the end, but their porous defence allowed Togolese substitute Laba to score two more goals in stoppage time to seal victory for Al Ain in a match full of emotion and unexpected twists and turns.

The win also secured Al Ain's place in next year's revamped Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States from 15 June to 13 July 2025.