JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- For years, Al Hilal have made Asia their playground.
The most successful side in AFC Champions League Elite history, they have deliberately cultivated an air of preeminence in the competition, backed up on the pitch with four titles from nine appearances in the final.
But on Tuesday evening, this sense of supremacy, of inevitability, was shattered at the penultimate hurdle for the second-straight year, as goals from Roberto Firmino, Ivan Toney and Firas Al-Buraikan propelled Al Ahli to a deserved 3-1 win and the chance to win a first-ever Asian crown -- the only thing louder than their fans their performance on the pitch.
"It was a fantastic evening. I'm so, so proud," said Al Ahli boss Matthias Jaissle. "The performance from each player, the team, and the unit -- and by unit I also mean the fans in the stadium -- it was a totally deserved win."
Admittedly, to describe it as a fairytale would be to do it a disservice.
And be well off the mark. Al Ahli, like Tuesday's opponents, are one of four sides in the Saudi Pro League owned by Saudi sovereign wealth fund PIF and, on Tuesday, they fielded a lineup featuring not just Firmino and Toney but also the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Franck Kessié and Édouard Mendy.
Matthias Jaissle's side entered as the only unbeaten side remaining in the competition and buoyed by the knowledge that they had defeated their opponents the last time they had met back in February.
Al Hilal may be second in the Saudi Pro League but in comparison to their world-record setting standards they've also been indifferent form as of late, winning just four of their last ten league games and dropping the first leg of their last-16 tie against Uzbek side Pakhtakor.
And while all three Saudi sides remaining in the ACLE have benefited from not needing to leave the country for the newly centralised finals, Al Ahli further benefited from this game being staged in Jeddah, rather than Al Hilal and Al Nassr's home of Riyadh.
Thus, it's almost incredulous that this could be considered a boilover but at the same time, Al Hilal's reputation precedes them.
If there were any doubts as to their ability to match it under some of Asia's brightest lights, though, Al Ahli moved quickly and ruthlessly to put them to bed early.
Indeed, if the ACLE has been their playground over the years, Al Hilal spent good portions of the game almost being toyed with.
Just nine minutes in, Al Ahli took the lead through a goal made in Brazil: Roger Ibañez slicing a ball down the left and into the path of Galeno, who arrived at the byline just before the ball could roll out and cut it back to Firmino.
The former Liverpool star, arriving to meet it after making a darting run between Kalidou Koulibaly and Ali Al-Bulaihi made no mistake, firing home to lay down a marker of his side's intent.
In the 24th minute it was two after a surgical pass was sliced through the defence by Mahrez, with Toney subsequently rounding Yassine Bounou and rolling a shot over the line just out of the desperate last-ditch lunge of Koulibaly.
His celebrations quickly gave way to finger wagging as the offside flag was raised -- something that was going to become a theme of his night -- but they quickly returned after a VAR review determined that the England striker had, in fact, been onside.
Though not dominating possession, the intent and purpose that was on display from those in green was striking, with the sense of momentum that came with it only heightened by the explosion of noise that greeted not just every chance but also every tackle, every clearance, and foul that went their way.
While both sets of supporters filled their half of the stands at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, just as was the case on the pitch, those clad in blue couldn't match the intensity or noise of their counterparts; an explosion of noise greeting an Al Hilal turnover soon after Toney's goal as the Al Ahli faithful sensed weakness.
"Al Ahli was better. They were superior in the first half," Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus, speaking through a translator, admitted.
Down a pair of goals, Al Hilal finally registered their first shot of the game just past the half-hour mark, part of a desperate goalmouth scramble from Marcos Leonardo and Aleksandar Mitrović.
And while that chance went begging and for all of Al Ahli's fire to that point, it augured a sense that the fatal blow had yet to be struck.
Thus, when Jorge Jesus' side got one back just before half-time, moments after Firmino rattled the side-netting from an acute angle rather than cross, it didn't carry the air of surprise the game state suggested it may have.
The way it arrived even had an air of destiny around it, too; Kessie's attempt to cut out a pass intended for Mitrovic bouncing into the path of Salem Al-Dawsari, who stormed into the penalty area and rocketed a shot beyond Mendy.
This could have easily sparked a collapse, the fear that your opponent had absorbed your best shot and was now coming for you starting to creep in.
And when Merih Demiral was booked for kicking a ball onto the pitch to prevent Al Hilal from quickly getting forward before halftime, sparking a war of words between the benches, one would have forgiven for thinking something may have been imminent.
But afforded time to collect themselves, regather their thoughts and receive new instructions from Jaissle, no collapse was forthcoming.
"I did all that I could; I planned well," said Jesus. "But when the result is bad, we have to find someone to blame.
"I'm making decisions, making the lineup and strategy, so I'm responsible. The responsibility is on me."
Just four minutes after the restart, Toney had the ball in the back of the net, only for the assistant to raise their flag. These scenes were repeated six minutes later when the former Brentford talisman again put the ball past Bounou, only for the flag to once again pierce the air.
First booked in the 9th minute of first-half stoppage time, Koulibaly then saw red on the hour mark when he received his second caution -- the explosion of noise that greeted the Senegal international's dismissal almost enough to rupture an eardrum.
The post was then hit twice in quick succession in the 73rd minute and VAR awarded a penalty in the 86th minute, only for Bounou to correctly dive to his right and deny Kessié's not-all-too-convincing attempt.
With a chance to kill the game off in stoppage time, Mahrez bent a shot wide, one of the 20 shots his side would send in compared to the four of Al Hilal.
Maybe on another evening, these missed opportunities are punished, and despite running second best, Al Hilal finds a way to do what they do better than anyone and make the ACLE final.
The signal for eight minutes of added time certainly sent a burst of energy through their desperate, ten-player attempts to fight back. But this was to be Al Ahli's night, the noise in the stands could have told you that, and Albrikan made sure of it in the 97th minute, just moments after coming on for Firmino.
Joey Lynch is in Jeddah reporting on the AFC Champions League Elite Finals as a guest of the Asian Football Confederation.