Sepahan’s only win in the competition came in the opening game of the tournament with a 4-0 thumping of Al Ain, but early optimism quickly petered out with a draw and three losses following, meaning the Iranians’ hopes had evaporated by the end of Matchday Five.

Al Nassr had cruised through the group stage, beating Sepahan FC twice and drawing against Al Sadd SC twice, while their previous match against Al Ain on Matchday Two was decided by goals from Mukhtar Ali and current top scorer Abderazzaq Hamdallah.

A win for coach Rui Vitoria’s men would secure the top spot, but a draw could also be enough for Al Nassr to snatch the top spot, provided Al Sadd fail to defeat Sepahan in the other Group D fixture on Thursday.

Both teams have seven points going into their last game of the group stage, where a win for either team means a place at the next stage.

A superior goal-difference means a draw would favour Sharjah, but it could also mean elimination for both sides should Al Taawoun defeat Al Duhail in the other Thursday game.

Sharjah have been in red hot form, scoring 10 goals in their last two games to brush aside Al Duhail 4-2 and Al Taawoun 6-0, but coach Abdulaziz Al Anbari is adamant his side should not get carried away with those results ahead of the decisive Persepolis match.

One point will be enough for Al Duhail to reach the Round of 16, while Al Taawoun’s fate is out of their hands, as they would require the three points in addition to a draw in the other Wednesday game between Sharjah and Persepolis.

After a bright start to the competition with back-to-back wins, Al Taawoun have been off-form since the restart, losing all three subsequent matches. The arrival of French coach Patrice Carteron ahead of Matchday Five did not change things as they suffered a 6-0 defeat to Sharjah.

Talented players, however, will beat the best of defences and that was indeed the case as Sharjah's Welliton led the way with a 12-minute hat-trick against Saudi Arabia's Al Taawoun.

It was a clash of champions as the league winners of Qatar and IR Iran met in Doha on Matchday Five with the exciting attack of Duhail, led by 2019 AFC Asian Cup Top Scorer Almoez Ali, trying to break through against the sturdy defence of Persepolis led by Iranian icon Jalal Hosseini.

As it turned out, a single goal proved to be enough to swing the tie but there were various subplots of interest that played out in the tie.

Doha: Sharjah winger Caio has been voted by the fans as the 2020 AFC Champions League Matchday Five Toyota Player of the Week. In data provided by OPTA, the official data provider for the Asian Football Confederation, Caio had earned a rating of 8.4 for his performance against Al Taawoun in Group C, with the Brazilian scoring once in the 6-0 win.