Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal are armed with confidence and a big win in the first leg when they host Al Sadd of Qatar on their ticket to the AFC Champions League final on Tuesday.
Despite a late goal less than a quarter of an hour from the start, Saudi Arabia's leaders, Al Hilal, rose to a 4-1 away win in Doha, making it to the continental finals for the third time in six years.
Al Hilal, who lost the Champions League final in 2014 and 2017, is in great shape at the local level as well, winning its last match with a clean three on "Dammk" to lead the summit by four points.
"This victory will give us confidence ahead of Tuesday's AFC Champions League return match.
Gomez will lead Al Hilal's attack again, and the team will enter a squad full of players with individual skills, but in turn may miss goalkeeper Abdullah Almayouf due to injury.
Al-Sadd, the Asian champions 2011, the last Arab champion of the continental competition, will find himself in a difficult position to compensate, especially as he will play the game in Riyadh without two of his most prominent players, the top scorer Baghdad Bounjah and defender Abdul Karim Hassan.
Bongah, the Qatari league's top scorer last season, received a yellow card in the first leg of the semi-final, while Abdul Karim, the best Asian player, received a direct red card, and the two players will miss the suspension.
"We will not give up in the second leg," said Al Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez.
The former Spain captain and Barcelona captain will also be required to restore confidence after losing 2-4 to Al Rayyan in the league and 1-5 to Al Wakra in the Cup, in their last two games, to receive 13 goals in their last three games.
The winner qualifies for the final against Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, or Guangzhou Evergrande of China, and Urawa won at home with two goals without a return home.
The Asian champions will take part in the Club World Cup at the end of this year, but even if the dam is out, it will appear in the competition at home because it is the host of the host country.