Al Hilal had won both their previous two matches, while Esteghlal came into the tie bottom of Group A with just one point.

Esteghlal wasted no time in taking the game to their opponents. Ayanda Patosi’s cross from the left was met by the head of Esmael Goncalves inside 25 seconds, but the Bissau-Guinean failed to direct his effort towards goal.

Despite controlling two-thirds of possession throughout, the Qatari side were profligate in front of goal. Al Ain goalkeeper Khaled Eisa was on top form, helping his side limit the damage at the back while their front line took two of the three chances that came their way.

Al Duhail got off to a flying start with Edmilson forcing Eisa into a reflex save within just three minutes of the start. The Brazilian received a cross-field pass and cut inside onto his left before firing low, but Eisa dived to parry the ball away.

Coming off the back of their heaviest-ever AFC Champions League defeat, Al Wasl were looking to recover from their 5-0 humbling at the hands of Al Zawraa. Meanwhile, Zobahan looked to extend their unbeaten record this campaign to three games.

Goals from Lucca and Gelmin Rivas helped the Qatari side come from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over Uzbekistan’s PFC Lokomotiv on Matchday Two as they rebounded strongly from an opening-day defeat to Al Ittihad.

The hosts go into the game on the back of a 2-2 draw against Al Sailiya in the Qatar Stars League at the end of last week and they currently sit fourth in the standings.

After a resounding 5-1 victory over Al Rayyan in their opening group game, the Saudi side slumped to a 4-1 defeat against Al Wahda in their second game.

The Jeddah-side are currently in a battle to avoid relegation from the Saudi Pro League, but a 4-1 win over Al Batin at the weekend kept them above the drop zone.

After drawing their opening game away at the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Persepolis, Marat Bikmaev scored the only goal of the game as the Uzbek side defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli 1-0 four weeks ago.

The Tashkent team, who are without the suspended Khumoyunmirzo Iminov, also lead the way in the Uzbek Super League as Friday’s 2-1 win over Nasaf made it three victories from three since their domestic championship kicked off in mid-March.

Al Ahli won their opening game of the competition 2-0 against Qatar’s Al Sadd, but suffered a 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor four weeks ago ahead of the double header with the Iranian champions. 

The Jeddah side defeated Al Shabab 4-0 in the Saudi Pro League on Friday and remain in fifth place in the standings, but well off the pace of the front two – Al Nassr and Al Hilal.