Here PA Sport reviews their route to the title game.

Group Stage

Gamba Osaka 1 Chonburi 1

Chunnam Dragons 3 Gamba Osaka 4

Melbourne Victory 3 Gamba Osaka 4

Gamba Osaka 2 Melbourne Victory 0

Chonburi 0 Gamba Osaka 2

Gamba Osaka 1 Chunnam Dragons 1

Although they ultimately finished well ahead of their nearest challengers in their opening round group, Gamba Osaka's passage to the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League was far from straightforward.

The J.League side needed a stoppage-time equaliser by Lucas to rescue a 1-1 draw against supposed group minnows Chonburi of Thailand in their home opener.

They were in real trouble when they fell 2-0 behind against Chunnam Dragons in Korea a week later before rallying for a dramatic 4-3 win with Ryuji Bando bagging a brace including the 76th-minute winner.

Akira Nishino's men then won a thriller in Australia, coming from behind twice to beat Melbourne Victory 4-3 with Lucas once again emerging as Gamba's hero, heading home a last-minute winner.

Those crucial away victories sent the Japanese side to the top of Group G and they never looked back, stretching their lead by downing Melbourne 2-0 in Osaka before sealing top spot with a game to spare following a 2-0 victory over Chonburi in Bangkok.

A 1-1 draw at home against Chunnam in their final group had little real bearing on the final outcome of the group as Gamba finished seven points clear of second-placed Melbourne.

Quarter-finals

Al Karama 1 Gamba Osaka 2

Gamba Osaka 2 Al Karama 0

The imposing Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Stadium in Homs has been a fortress for Al Karama in their past three Champions League campaigns with the Syrian champions losing only one of 13 home games in the competition prior to Gamba's visit.

And the signs were not good for the Japanese side when Belal Abduldaim bundled in the ball after only seven minutes to give the home side an early lead.

Al Karama had opportunities to extend their advantage but the introduction of Ryuji Bando and Masato Yamazaki midway through the second half turned the game in Gamba's favour.

Skipper Satoshi Yamaguchi headed in the equaliser in the 70th minute and seven minutes later, Yamazaki buried a low shot past Mosab Balhous to secure a precious win for the visitors.

Al Karama needed to score twice in Osaka to overcome the deficit and never looked likely to achieve that before late goals by Yamazaki and Roni sealed a 2-0 win and 4-1 aggregate triumph.

Semi-finals

Gamba Osaka 1 Urawa Reds 1

Urawa Reds 1 Gamba Osaka 3

Defending champions Urawa entered as favourites and looked set to take a precious advantage back home to Saitama when Hajime Hosogai fired them ahead after 22 minutes.

But Gamba battled back in the second half and grabbed a lifeline when Yasuhito Endo converted a questionable penalty with nine minutes left after Takahito Soma was adjudged to have brought down Ryuji Bando in the box.

Urawa appeared to put that disappointment behind them as they completely dominated the first half of the return match, taking a deserved lead through Naohiro Takahara and threatening to add more before the interval.

But it was a completely different story in the second half as Satoshi Yamaguchi headed the sides level six minutes after the break before Tomokazu Myojin flicked home an Endo corner to put Gamba ahead for the first time with 18 minutes remaining.

Needing two goals to rescue the tie, the home side pushed forward but were exposed by a Gamba counter-attack four minutes later as Endo slotted home to seal a memorable result for the visitors.