The reason why I put quotation marks around the Asian derby is because the derby itself refers to the contest between teams, and here it extends to the level of players.
In recent years, you may have sensed that there are more and more Asian players playing in Europe, and that most of the players have played in the second and third tier teams of the top five leagues in the past, and there are very few examples of players playing in the top clubs. Now, more and more Asian players are starting to settle into Europe's top teams. For example, Japanese player Endo Hang, who plays for Liverpool. Although Endo is not the absolute main force of Liverpool, it always has amazing performances at critical moments and is valued by Klopp.
Of course, it is a pity that Liverpool only has Europa League to play this season, so Endo will not be able to play in the Champions League this time. However, if we look at the squad for this season's Champions League quarter-finals, we do see the names of individual Asian players. In extreme cases, in this season's Champions League final, there may be elements of the "Asian Derby".
The quarter-finals of the Champions League are divided into two halves, so as long as you are in different halves, you may meet in the final. Let's take a look at the specifics. First of all, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Bayern's half of the zone, known as the death half, is significantly stronger than the other half of the overall strength. Among them, Arsenal and Bayern have Asian players in their squads, Arsenal's central defender Kenhiro Tomiyasu, and Bayern's central defender Kim Min-jae.
The battle between Arsenal and Bayern is certainly one of the most interesting matches in the four group matchups, no less than the battle between Real Madrid and Manchester City. And whoever advances, it is guaranteed that there will still be Asian players in the semi-finals. Of course, whether it is Bayern Munich or Arsenal, it is very difficult to win against Real Madrid or Manchester City in the semi-finals. But now that it's in the semi-finals, what else can't happen? So, Kenhiro Tomiyasu, or Kim Min-jae, have a chance to appear in the Champions League final. Even if the probability is not too great.
Let's look at the other half. There is only one Asian player in this semi-division, Li Gangren of Grand Paris. Unlike the other Asian players in the other half, Lee Gang-in is a midfielder who is more aggressive and more likely to impress. And in this half, Grand Paris really has a bit of an advantage. In terms of quality, they are not below Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and they are clearly better in the Champions League this season than in the past few years. Therefore, it is not a small probability that Paris will eliminate Barcelona, and then eliminate one of Atletico Madrid and Dortmund.
Therefore, Li Gangren also has a chance to appear in the Champions League final.
Then, in this season's Champions League final, there are likely to be two versions of the Asian derby. One is Kenyo Tomiyasu vs. Lee Gang-in, and the other is Kim Min-jae vs. Lee Gang-in. The first version is the Japan-Korea derby, and the second version is directly the Korean derby. If it happens, it will be a historic moment for Korean football.
In fact, in the past two decades, there have been two examples of Asian players playing in Champions League finals, both of which were South Korean players. One is Manchester United's Park Ji-sung, and the other is Tottenham's Son Heung-min. It can be seen that the competitiveness of Korean players in European football is still very strong, and it has a good continuity. However, whether it is Park Ji-sung or Son Heung-min, representing Asian players in the Champions League final, they are more or less alone, and if the two situations we mentioned above really occur this season, it will be the glory of Asian football.
Of course, the above two situations, after all, are small probability events, and this is only the quarterfinals, perhaps, it will be more pertinent to talk about this topic in the semi-final stage.