By Michael Church
HONG KONG, March 2 (Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr side will look to turn around a run of indifferent form against Iran’s Esteghlal in Tehran on Monday as the Asian Champions League Elite moves into the knockout phase.
The Riyadh-based side are one of three Saudi Pro League teams to reach the last 16 of the revamped continental championship, which was dominated throughout the league phase in west Asia by the big-spending trio.
Saudi champions Al-Hilal, who have won the Asian title on four occasions, will take on Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in Tashkent on Tuesday, when Al-Ahli from Jeddah will travel to Doha to face Qatar’s Al-Rayyan.
Both go into their clashes as favourites to earn a first-leg advantage ahead of the return fixtures in Saudi Arabia next week while Al-Nassr are also expected to prevail despite their recent inconsistency.
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Stefano Pioli’s side have lost two of their last three matches in the domestic league and drew 0-0 with Esteghlal’s bitter rivals Persepolis in the Asian Champions League Elite, giving hope to the team from Tehran.
Al-Wasl from the United Arab Emirates will entertain Qatar’s Al-Sadd, with the eight clubs sparring for the right to represent the west of the continent in next month’s quarter-finals.
The latter stages will be played in a centralised format in Jeddah for the first time, with the four quarter-finalists from west Asia entering into the draw for the next phase on March 17 alongside four clubs from the east.
Last year’s runners-up, Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos, will take on Shanghai Port on Tuesday having earned a confidence-boosting 2-0 win over Kevin Muscat’s team in the league phase last month.
Thai League 1 champions Buriram United host a Johor Darul Ta’zim side buoyed by retaining their Malaysian league title last week.
On Wednesday Japanese champions Vissel Kobe will look to put their poor start to the season behind them when they host South Korea’s Gwangju FC, with Takayuki Yoshida attempting to guide his team to their first win in six matches.
Kawasaki Frontale, the third Japanese club to have progressed through the opening phase, travel to China to take on Shanghai Shenhua.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Ed Osmond)
