The current Al Ain side are desperate to repeat the achievements of the 2002/03 vintage.
As they take on Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the 2016 AFC Champions League final, Sport360 looks back at their journey to the finale in Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday night.
GROUP STAGE
A calamitous start as back-to-back defeats to El Jaish put the Boss on the brink of elimination. Three wins and a draw from their next four though saw them pip Al Ahli Jeddah to second spot.
ROUND OF 16
A 1-1 home draw against Iran’s Zob Ahan was far from ideal, but they won the return leg 2-0 in Isfahan, with Omar Abdulrahman teeing up Lee Myung-joo and Danilo Asprilla for goals in either half to advance.
QUARTER-FINALS
Another home draw in the first leg gave visiting Lokotmotiv Tashkent the advantage as they headed to Uzbekistan, where Brazilian trickster Caio netted the tie’s only goal to send Al Ain into the last four.
SEMI-FINALS
Revenge against Jaish from the group stages. A 3-1 win in the Garden City sowed the seeds for progress, a 2-2 draw in Doha earning them a place in the tournament’s showpiece for the first time since 2005.
FINALS, FIRST LEG
A scrappy and tense game was sparked into life by Asprilla’s exquisite volleyed opener. The hosts responded through Leonardo’s seven-minute brace which means the final is finely poised ahead of Saturday night.