Guangzhou Evergrande boss Marcello Lippi has the respect of rival coach

With a World Cup-winning coach at the helm and a glittering array of domestic and international talent at the disposal of Guangzhou Evergrande, FC Seoul head coach Choi Yong-soo is under no illusions regarding the tough task facing his side in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final tomorrow night.

The Korean side will, like Guangzhou, play in their first continental club championship final since the creation of the AFC Champions League in 2002 and Choi - a veteran of the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals with South Korea - lays the credit for the Chinese club's success at the door of Marcello Lippi.

"Guangzhou are very good tactically and they have improved a lot because they have such a good coach," said Choi.

"The Chinese players and the foreigners work together in harmony. They take a lot of their chances to score and their level of defence and attack is better than a lot of teams in Asia."

Lippi took over at the helm of the club in May 2012 from South Korean Lee Jang-soo, himself a former FC Seoul head coach, and has moulded a side that is now the scourge of Asia, with a solid base made up of a raft of Chinese internationals - led by captain Zheng Zhi - and a trio of talented South Americans.

Brazilian Muriqui is the tournament's leading scorer, while Dario Conca and Elkeson have been in blistering form in recent weeks, with the trio scoring all 14 of the club's goals since the start of the quarter-finals.