Another 16 matches across the eight groups will take place in the week ahead, before which the-AFC.com takes its first look of the season at the facts and stats that caught the eye in Asia’s premier club competition.

After a nervy start, the visitors recovered well and produced a display that will give them plenty of confidence going forward in the 2018 AFC Champions League.

Counter Attack

Knowing they would concede the lion’s share of possession, Buriram United set out to stifle the Guangzhou Evergrande attack and hit them on the counter attack.

They set up in a 5-4-1 formation, with Diogo as the lone man forward, and looked to get numbers behind the ball as shown in the average positions below.

The home side are in scintillating form domestically in Australia, but they were no match for the Korean outfit who started their campaign in the best way possible.

Dejan Delight

Montenegrin international Dejan Damjanovic made the big move from FC Seoul to Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the off-season, and he’s already proving to be a shrewd acquisition for Seo Jung-won’s side.

After scoring in their win over FLC Thanh Hoa in the Playoff Round, Damjanovic scored a brace against Sydney FC to underline is quality and show why Suwon were so keen to sign him.

While the hosts had more of the ball in the Group F encounter, a more direct approach ensured Vitor Pereira’s side left with all three points thanks to Elkeson’s 23rd-minute strike.