History will be made either way after the AFC Cup final between Bengaluru FC and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, or the Air Force Club of Iraq, concludes at the Suhaim bin Hammad Stadium in Doha on Saturday evening.
No Iraq team has ever won an AFC club title, though the national team did win the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, while Bengaluru are the first team from India to have made the final of an AFC club competition.
Here are the five biggest talking points ahead of the historic night.
Suspension of key players
India's run to the final was supplemented to a great extent by goalkeeper Amrinder Singh, but he picked up a second yellow card in the knockout stages during the 3-1 semifinal second-leg victory over Johor Darul Ta'zim. Air Force Club, too, will miss two key players through suspension - centre-back Samal Saeed and midfielder Bashar Rasan. Rasan scored the winning goal in a massive fightback that Air Force mounted on Lebanon's Al-Ahed to make the final, but then picked up a red card seven minutes later.
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Injury concerns for both teams
Both teams have some niggling doubts over key players and their availability as starters in the final. Bengaluru are unsure if Australian midfielder Cameron Watson will recover sufficiently from a reported stomach bug, while Air Force chose not to reveal who they have as a doubtful starter. Looking at their last practice session on Friday evening, though, it would seem Samal's brother Sameh, the regular right-back, might be the one who could have a late fitness test before the final team sheets are released on Saturday.
Attack vs defence
If Air Force have had an emphasis on attacking play, scoring goals in huge numbers along the way, then Bengaluru have been tight at the back, particularly since Albert Roca has taken charge. In four matches, all of them AFC knockout games, the team has only conceded two goals. If the early momentum is wrested by the 'home' side, then it could well turn out to be a case of a big contest between Air Force's attack and Bengaluru's defence.
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Venue could be crucial
It is technically a home game for Air Force, but the final is being played in Qatar since Iraq is considered unsafe to play in at the moment. There are expected to be some vociferous supporters for both teams, and many Bengaluru fans have made the trip across the Arabian Sea to root for their team. The atmosphere may not be as partisan as Air Force would have hoped for, but that should only make for a fascinating contest.
New format, more money
And finally, this is the first AFC Cup that has been played in a radically new format. Until 2015, the teams from west and east Asia could even meet in the semifinals, but this year the two centres were separated till the final. That, and the fact that the prize money has almost tripled from 350,000 dollars to a round million dollars this year, will mean that Bengaluru and Air Force have all that much more to play for, come Saturday night.