Having previously made it as far as the semifinals of the AFC Champions League Elite, Vissel Kobe are now one win away a first appearance in the decider.
In order to do so, they will have to overcome the most-daunting of tasks: the defending champions in front of their home fans.
Standing in Vissel's way on Monday evening are last season's ACL Elite winners Al Ahli, who will effectively enjoy a home match given the centralised finals take place in their home city of Jeddah.
King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, the venue of the tie -- as well as the final on Saturday -- can accommodate over 62,000. Al Ahli will be hoping a crowd close to that figure turns up or, at the very least, certainly more than the 40,506 that witnessed their quarterfinal win over Johor Darul Ta'zim on Friday.
But never mind a hostile atmosphere. The first thing Vissel will be concerned with is the star-studded Al Ahli outfit, who boast famous names such as Riyad Mahrez, Ivan Toney, Franck Kessié and Édouard Mendy to name but a few.
These players hardly need any introduction but, while he acknowledged their undeniable quality, Vissel vice-captain Gōtoku Sakai is unfazed at coming up against them -- and instead has called on his team-mates to show courage in the face of adversity.
"The opposition's players are of very high quality," said Sakai in the pre-match news conference on Sunday. "If you're a football player, everybody knows them.
"Of course, we know them very well and we have to prepare very well with our analysis. We respect them as much as possible but it doesn't deter us. The courage we would like to play against them with is going to be very important.
"We have very good players and coaches as well, so we're not going to be deterred by them. With concentration and unity, we have to play really hard. As the defensive line, we will have to deal with them with cohesion."
Likewise, Vissel coach Michael Skibbe acknowledged the quality of Monday's opposition but is confident his team will be suitably prepared as they look to play the role of party poopers for the majority of those that will be gathered at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
"We are very happy to be here in Saudi Arabia, playing tomorrow a very interesting match against a very, very strong opponent," said the German tactician.
"As we all know, Al-Ahli [are] one of the best teams in the Asia football world, let's say, and because of this, it will be very nice to play against them.
"It will be very crowded tomorrow in the stadium. It is a big stadium, and we are very well prepared for the match tomorrow.
"We would like to show our best performance, our best Vissel Kobe performance tomorrow evening.
"It will be very nice to have an audience like this. This is why we are playing football, to have such nice experiences like we will have tomorrow evening, fantastic fans with their team.
"But my team knows how it is with a lot of fans in the stadium and because of this we will be motivated very well and it will be a very nice atmosphere.
"Everybody's ready to play, everybody is motivated and because of this I think we will have a very strong Vissel team tomorrow evening."