The former Southampton striker, making his first appearance in the competition since the 2016 quarter-finals, was the hero for his side as goals in either half earned a valuable point on the road for the Chinese Super League team.

But having taken a first-half lead, Pelle was disappointed Shandong couldn’t stay in the ascendancy and come away with all three points, especially after they spurned a number of late chances.

On a chilly night at the Changwon Football Center Stadium, both sides started well in an evenly contested opening half.

Shandong had the first chance of the match when Wu Xinghan was left free in the box from a free-kick, but he couldn’t direct his header on target.

At the other end, Shandong’s star signing, Belgian international Marouane Fellaini made a crucial defensive header on 11 minutes as Song Ju-hun looked to get on the end of Lee Yeong-jae’s in-swinging free-kick.

There was an early scare for the visitors when JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias brought down Takeshi Kanamori on the edge of the box. The away side were relieved that the referee blew for a free-kick and not a penalty.

After spending the vast majority of his career in Europe – primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium – the Iranian forward joined Sydney on loan from Cypriot side APOEL ahead of the 2019 AFC Champions League campaign.

The 31-year-old former Islamic Republic of Iran international scored his first goal for his new club as Sydney defeated Adelaide United 2-0 in the A-League on Friday and he is now set to take his place in the starting line-up for the Group H match against 2012 winners Ulsan.

In their very first AFC Champions League campaign, the 2018 Korean FA Cup champions were on the back foot early as the home side jumped out of the blocks to dominate early proceedings, with Raul Baena and Terry Antonis both having early efforts from long range.

Sanfrecce had an early chance when Hiroya Matsumoto’s ball over the top released Douglas Vieira. The striker had a clear run on goal but took the ball too far wide and his effort from a tight angle was saved by Zeng Cheng.

Guangzhou responded by starting to dominate possession and it was no surprise when they took the lead after a fine team move in the 19th minute. Li Xuepeng’s deft pass released Yu Hanchao down the left and the winger’s cross was headed in by Anderson Talisca.

Jeonbuk are one of the most decorated teams in Asia, having lifted the trophy in 2006 and 2016 as well as finishing runners-up in 2011, and they return to the competition after winning their fourth K League 1 title in five years.

The hosts, who were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by domestic rivals Suwon Samsung Bluewings last year, began the defence of their K league 1 title with a 1-1 draw against Daegu FC on Friday.