“We played very well in the first half by creating some very good chances and we had a big chance for the second goal, but in the second half Al Ahli were too powerful,” said the German.

“There were a lot of long balls that gave a lot of pressure to us; corners, free-kicks and so on. It was hard to defend. Even then, we got a lucky chance for the second goal again when we shot against the post but later on with the goals, the opponents were tough.”

Muto had put the Japanese side ahead and, after weathering an early storm at the start of the second half, Kobe could have doubled their lead only to see Daiju Sasaki rattle the Al Ahli crossbar.

It was a miss the J1 League outfit were to rue with Galeno lashing in from distance before Toney slid a delicate finish home to take Al Ahli into the final for the second season in a row.

“I think the most important thing is that Al Ahli are very powerful, very fast players, strong players, a lot of players with good heading and it wasn’t easy to defend,” said Skibbe. “This is the reason we lost the match.

“This big gap between quality of the football in eastern Asia and western Asia is because the clubs in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and so on are much more powerful, they have much more money in the leagues.

“They buy very special players out of Europe and South America so they have high quality in the team. This is not the same in the eastern part of Asia, we are losing our best Japanese players to go to Europe. It’s not possible to be as powerful as the teams in Saudi Arabia. The more powerful team this evening has won.”