South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai FC were crowned the champions of Asia for the second time in their history after beating Iran's Persepolis FC 2-1 in the AFC Champions League 2020 final in Qatar on Saturday.
Junior Negrao scored his sixth and seventh goals of the campaign from the penalty spot and made Ulsan the fourth team from South Korea to win the Champions League twice.
Persepolis' drought in the tournament continues as they lost their second final in three seasons.
With Ulsan ascending to the throne at the end of a turbulent, yet enthralling, 2020 AFC Champions League season, we take an early look at what the win means for the K1 side and how Persepolis might recover.
Star power takes Ulsan to a second title in eight years
Ulsan took the tournament by storm once play resumed by scoring the most goals and by boasting a defence and keeper that conceded just six goals over nine matches.
Junior had an uneven performance upfront on Saturday, but still bagged a brace while Yoon Bit-Garam, Ulsan's creative fulcrum, was one of the biggest threats from open play for the majority of the final and won the first penalty for his side.
Davy Bulthuis and Kim Kee-Hee were again brilliant in defence while Kim Tae-Hwan stepped up in the right-back role. Midfielder Won Du-Jae, the MVP at this year's AFC U-23 Championship in Thailand, kept things tight in the middle and freed up Yoon and Kim In-Sung to attack.
While veteran striker Lee Keun-Ho, the only member left of the 2012 title-winning side, made an appearance from the bench for his second Champions League title, former Borussia Dortmund full-back Park Joo-Ho breathed a sigh of relief after his mistake had given Persepolis the early lead.
Persepolis missed chances as their wait for an ACL title continues
It always felt like Persepolis faced an uphill battle against Ulsan in Saturday's finale and that ultimately proved to be the case as they failed to match their opposition's quality. But the fact that they made it this far was in itself a testament to the team's resolve.
Persepolis saw an exodus of stars during recent campaigns and slapped with a transfer ban by FIFA that was just lifted at the end of October. This left the club little time to scramble for new stars ahead of the final.
A six-month ban to leading scorer Issa Alekasir along with suspensions to influential midfielders Vahid Amiri and Ehsan Pahlavan set them back in the final even before kick-off. Undermanned, Persepolis will still regret the way in which they lost the final.
After taking a lead through Mehdi Abdi at the stroke of halftime, Yahya Golmohammadi's side gave away a soft penalty with Ahmad Nourollahi fouling Yoon inside the box and letting Ulsan straight back into the game. Ulsan's winner also came from the spot as Mehdi Shiri handled the ball inside the box resulting in Junior's second.
The result meant the Red Army's wait for a first Champions League title is set to continue with regional power Iran now having gone 17 years without a continental trophy.
After disappointments, is Kim Do-Hoon set to leave on a high?
Ulsan's mental fitness was debated relentlessly this year. Head coach Kim Do-hoon's inability to deliver during big moments was often in display after a string of disappointing title-game losses.
During the former South Korea international's four-year stint, the Horangi have lost two Korean FA Cup finals and twice finished runners-up in the league. Kim's only silverware as a professional coach until Saturday was the 2017 FA Cup his first season at Ulsan.
But in what could be his final match as Ulsan's manager of 50-year-old Kim finally delivered. After losing both the FA Cup final and league campaign in 2020, Kim's side finally lived up to their potential with their campaign culminating in nine successive wins.
We'll find out in the coming days whether Kim will stay on to take another shot at the league title next season, but if he leaves, he will be remembered fondly by the Ulsan faithful in the years to come.