Tasting continental football for the first time this season, Japan's Machida Zelvia have already done well to get as far as the AFC Champions League Elite semifinals.
It started from the league stage when they impressively finished top of the 12-team East region even ahead of more-seasoned compatriots Vissel Kobe and Sanfrecce Hiroshima -- with a record of five wins, two draws and a loss.
Of course, given the J1 League is arguably Asia's strongest domestic competition, it was always a distinct possibility that one of their representatives -- even in their first foray in the ACL Elite -- would have enough quality to overcome competition from South Korea, China, Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
That much proved true as well in the round of 16, when Machida grinded out a 1-0 aggregate win over South Korean outfit Gangwon FC to book their place in the last eight.
But the centralised ACL Elite finals -- which see the quarterfinals, semifinals and final take place over a whirlwind span of ten days in Jeddah -- is a different proposition altogether.
It is at this stage of the tournament that the East and West regions finally collide, introducing a whole new level of competition.
And Machida could not have asked for a better first meeting with opposition from the West, as they claimed a 1-0 victory over a star-studded Al Ittihad outfit -- boasting famous names such as Fabinho, Steven Bergwijn, Moussa Diaby, Danilo Pereira, Youssef En-Nesyri and Houssem Aouar -- on Friday to advance into the semis.
Emirati outfit Shabab Al Ahli are the next obstacle standing in the way of Machida. While their squad may not look as illustrious as Al Ittihad's, they still possess plenty of quality.
Federico Cartabia and Nemanja Maksimović spent significant time in LaLiga playing for prominent clubs like Valencia and Getafe, although the latter has been absent from their past four outings.
Most of the Brazilian brigade that makes up a significant portion of their foreign contingent have top-flight experience in their home country.
Then, there is also the Iran duo of Saeid Ezatolahi and Sardar Azmoun -- who both had prolonged spells in Europe, as well as two FIFA World Cups each under their belts.
Still, while Machida acknowledge another tough test awaits them, it will do little to deter them from continuing to dream of becoming champions of Asia on their ACL Elite debut.
"Our aim is not just to participate," said defender Henry Heroki Mochizuki -- who scored Machida's historic first goal of the tournament last September -- in Monday's pre-match news conference.
"Our aim is to win. That's why we are here.
"We managed to proceed to the semifinals and our opponents are a really high quality team, but we know we can win if we can perform to our level."
It was a sentiment that was shared by Machida coach Go Kuroda, who dismissed suggestions that Shabab Al Ahli might be hampered by one less day of rest -- having played their quarterfinal on Saturday and needing extra-time to see off Buriram United.
"We are here to win the tournament so we don't want to lose [the semifinal]," said the 55-year-old, whose spell in charge of Machida is incredibly his first professional job after previously spending 26 years coaching high school football.
"Yes, we have an advantage from a schedule perspective, but this is the semifinal.
"Both teams will expect a high quality match and, as soon as the game starts, the players won't feel whatever lethargy they were feeling before."
While both teams have not had any issues finding the back of the net in the tournament, Kuroda has an inkling that it would be defence that decides the contest on Tuesday.
"Through the J.League to this tournament, we have built a strong defensive ethos where we have kept clean sheets," he explained.
"That builds confidence in the players.
"Our opponents are physically strong and have speed, but I expect us to deal with them properly."
Likewise, Mochizuki is aiming to keep things tight at the back against Shabab Al Ahli as he is aware of the threat they pose from set-piece situations - which is curiously one area where Machida themselves gave Al Ittihad all sorts of problems, especially with Kotaro Hayashi's long throws from deep -- one of which led to Tete Yengi's winning goal
"It's not our aim to have a high scoring game," added Mochizuki.
"We would like to keep a clean sheet in the next game as well.
"We know the opponents are good from set-pieces so we will be concentrating on ensuring we don't concede unnecessary corners or free-kicks."
