“So far it looks quite good that the majority of the players are on board, mentally and physically fit,” said Jaissle, who is aiming to become the first coach to win back-to-back titles in the AFC Champions League era.

“This is a special game and everyone wants to be involved. Everyone is trying in the last days to be in the best physical and mental shape. This is what we expect from the players, so we can expect that everyone’s ready.”

Al Ahli will be facing Japanese opposition in the final for the second season in a row after defeating Kawasaki Frontale one year ago and Jaissle retains much of the squad that lifted the club’s first-ever continental title.

Over the last two weeks, the Saudi Pro League outfit have seen off Qatar’s Al Duhail SC in the last 16 before a quarter-final win over Johor Darul Ta’zim and a semi-final victory against Vissel Kobe to arrive in the showpiece event.

“Machida are a well-disciplined team, with a really high work rate,” Jaissle said. “What they do out of possession, there’s top effort from every player on the pitch.

“It’s not easy to score goals against them, they showed that in the knockout stage, they didn’t concede many goals in that whole campaign and only seven goals in 12 matches. That shows they are well-structured.

“It will be a tough match, but this is normal otherwise they would not have qualified for the final.”

Machida go into the final with a watertight defence, registering a 1-0 aggregate win over Gangwon FC in last 16 before claiming victories by the same scoreline over Saudi Pro League champions Al Ittihad Club and Shabab Al Ahliof the UAE in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.

Kuroda’s side are the sixth different Japanese club to qualify for the final since the launch of the AFC Champions League in 2002 with Machida attempting to become the first team from the J1 League since Urawa Red Diamonds in 2022 to lift the trophy.

“We have come here to the Middle East and never really played many teams in this environment before, but those games we played have definitely helped the players,” said Kuroda.

“They have felt something new on this pitch and they want to carry this momentum into the final."

“The stadium will be full of supporters for the home team but we’re aware of this and we will do our best not to get overwhelmed. We just want to showcase how strong we are as Machida Zelvia

“There’s been some time for us to prepare even if it looks like we’ve had one day less. Regarding injuries, we look pretty good. I don’t want to say anything about the players condition. I don’t want to use that as an excuse.

“We want to face this game head on and do our very best.”