AFC Champions League Two:
Sepahan to face Al Ahli, Esteghlal given Al Hussein test in last 16
Persian Gulf Pro League club Sepahan will face Qatar’s Al Ahli, while Esteghlal will take on Jordan’s Al Hussein in the round of 16 of the AFC Champions League Two.
The draw for the knockout phase took place at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, with the 16 remaining teams discovering their opponents in Asia’s second-tier club competition.
Both Iranian sides will host the first leg of their two-legged ties on February 10-11, with the return matches scheduled for a week later.
Sepahan secured second place behind Al Hussein in Group C with a 2-0 home win over the Jordanian side in November. The group featured only three teams after Indian champion Mohun Bagan SG was expelled from the competition for refusing to travel to Isfahan, citing safety concerns.
Al Ahli topped Group B with 10 points, recording two wins and four draws.
Esteghlal, meanwhile, endured a dreadful start to its campaign, suffering back-to-back defeats – including a 7–1 humiliation at the hands of UAE side Al Wasl – but still managed to advance behind the Emirati club. The Tehran side sealed qualification with a comprehensive 3–0 away victory over Bahrain’s Al Muharraq in a must-win game on the final day of the group stage last Wednesday.
Fans in Iran could be treated to an all-Iranian clash in the quarterfinals should both Sepahan and Esteghlal progress.
Elsewhere in the draw, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, which won Group D with a perfect record of six wins, was pitted against FC Arkadag.
The Saudi heavyweight scored a tournament-high 22 goals and conceded just two, while Turkmenistan’s Arkadag netted five and conceded six in six group matches.
Unbeaten Al Wasl will face Iraq’s Al Zawraa SC, the runner-up in Group D.
In the East region, Australia’s Macarthur FC will meet Thailand’s Bangkok United, while Japan’s Gamba Osaka will be confident of its chances against South Korea’s Pohang Steelers after advancing from Group F with a perfect record.
Indonesia’s Persib Bandung will go head-to-head with Thailand’s Ratchaburi FC.
The last-16 ties will be followed by the quarterfinals in March and the semifinals in April, with the tournament culminating in a single-leg West-meets-East final on May 16.