Marcello Lippi smiled as his Guangzhou Evergrande team warmed up at Seoul's World Cup stadium for the first leg of the Asian Champions League final on Saturday. The home side, FC Seoul, were still stuck in traffic 45 minutes before kick-off along with a fair amount of the 55,500 fans set to watch the showpiece game.

Frantic Asian Football Confederation officials had phones in one hand and half-blank team-sheets in the other, the South Korean players were still tweeting from the bus when they should have been halfway through their routine and there was the unmistakable white-haired 2006 World Cup-winning manager, sharing a joke with the Chinese members of his coaching staff.

Communication may not be smooth but Lippi, aiming to become the first manager to win the premier club competitions of both Uefa and the AFC, has plenty to smile about – not least that at €10m (£8.5m) a year he earns 64 times more than his Seoul counterpart Choi Yong-soo. The first Chinese word the Italian learned after his appointment in May 2012 was ashtray. His habit has endeared him to a press pack that, even in the chain-smoking world of Asian football journalists, take puffing to a whole different level, as the majority of the 70-plus who made the journey across the Yellow Sea demonstrated. They also love Lippi for the winning habit that is taking Guangzhou to the next level – from the biggest club on the world's biggest continent to becoming the first Asian "superclub".

The Reds are oft-called the Manchester United of Asia but while there is no continental rival in terms of stature and profile, their rise has been Manchester City-esque. Large injections of money from Evergrande, a real estate company, took the club from nowhere – in this case the Chinese second division in 2010 – to glory. Success at home is now a given and a third successive Super League title clinched recently went almost unnoticed as a first Asian final approached. Beating Seoul would not only provide kudos on the continent but also offer access to Fifa's Club World Cup and more besides.

The first leg, 2-2 draw was a solid step. About 12,000 fans descended on the South Korean capital clad in red behind a massive "We Are Canton" banner. Chinese supporters have watched over the years as their east Asian neighbours dominated the club scene. The Middle Kingdom's sole title came in 1990. South Korea, with less than a 20th of the population, has won 10.

English television viewers sometimes become exasperated when watching Premier League teams in Europe as commentators assume the whole country wants Manchester United, Arsenal or Chelsea to win. In Guangzhou's case it is largely true. According to a poll on Weibo, China's Twitter, 94% of the population was cheering them on.

Chinese students in South Korea were given tickets and told to support their country's representative. In Asia, too, Evergrande are big news. Viewing figures have not yet been released for the first leg but sources say it will easily be the highest-rated Asian Champions League game ever.

Perhaps it was all a bit much for a team rarely tested. Despite breezing their way to the final with 19 goals scored and only three conceded in six knockout stage games, Guangzhou did not click in South Korea. Dejan Damjanovic continued the good form he showed for Montenegro in trying to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with a deserved equaliser for Seoul.

Lippi stood motionless as he had done for 90 minutes apart from a failed volleyed backheel attempt to return a high ball into play but he said after the game that his team have two away goals, the second leg on 9 November, another gear and 50,000 home fans in their favour. They are still odds-on to win. In a continent full of South American imports of varying quality, Guangzhou have the best.

Argentina's Dario Conca – brilliant on the field if difficult off it, according to the club chairman – was, when he arrived in July 2011, reportedly the third highest-paid player in the world. The playmaker has been outstanding, backed by the Brazilians Elkeson and Muriqui. So dominant have the Reds become in China that other clubs asked them to go easy when hoovering up domestic talent. They did, a little, but still possess much of the Chinese national team and had to play a league game in October without eight of their players away on international duty. That is one reason why Guangzhou are pushing the FA to relax the limit (currently four non-Asians are allowed) on signing foreign players.

Gangzhou are not the only Chinese team to spend big but they did it best, certainly better than Shanghai Shenhua with their ill-fated Anelka-Drogba adventure. Others have followed, such as Guangzhou R&F who are coached by Sven-Goran Eriksson, Lippi's regular dining partner at a local Italian restaurant, but they are way behind. All this investment is partly the result of a political desire to see the Chinese game first cleansed of corruption and then improved to become Asia's best. Businesses have been happy to spend, at least in part, to please officials at the local, regional and national level. The new president of China, Xi Jinping, is a big fan.

The one worry is that Evergrande may reduce support if the real estate market in China continues to be sluggish but fans care little and there are more and more of them. The club have plans to open supporters groups elsewhere in Asia as well as Europe and America. Guangzhou are determined to become ever grander on a global scale and securing the Asian title on 9 November is only the first step.