Al Nassr will go into the tie at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha protecting a 2-1 lead in what promises to be an epic encounter between the league champions of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Both had good news to celebrate during the international break with midfielder Nam Tae-hee having resumed training for Qatar Stars League champions Al Sadd while Moroccan forward Abderrazak Hamdallah saw game time for Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League clash against Al Shabab on Friday.

The Saudi side came from behind to secure their first-ever home win in an AFC Champions League knockout stage match as goals from Abdulrahman Al Dossari and Giuliano settled matters in a closely-contested affair at the King Fahd International Stadium on Monday.

Ali Asad had given the Qataris a 21st minute lead but it was countered by Abdulrahman Al Dossari’s close range strike a minute from the break, before Giuliano sealed the win for Al Nassr with a fine header in the 72nd minute on Tuesday.

Making their first-ever quarter-final appearance, Al Nassr were hopeful of securing their first win over Qatari opponents in the competition, but had their work cut out for them by a late injury to star striker Abdelrazzaq Hamdallah.

In turn, Al Sadd needed a positive result from Riyadh to set them up for an easier task at home as they chase a second consecutive semi-final.

The J.League side secured a goalless draw in the first leg in Guangzhou just over two weeks ago, while their league form has also taken an upturn, having been beaten just once since May as the Ibaraki side have risen to second behind leaders FC Tokyo.

And, just as in 2018, the defending champions could be hitting form at the right time, with Go Oiwa’s team just three games away from a second successive final as they aim to become the first side to defend the AFC Champions League since Al Ittihad in 2004 and 2005.

Back in 2007, Robson Ponte was Urawa’s top scorer as the Reds became the first Japanese team to lift the AFC Champions League when they overcame the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Sepahan in the final after a 2-0 win at Saitama Stadium secured a 3-1 aggregate victory.

So often the setting for dramatic encounters, Saitama – where Urawa also won the 2017 title – will play host to the quarter-final second leg against Shanghai SIPG on Tuesday and, with the score tied at 2-2 after the first leg, Ponte is confident the two-time winners have what it takes to advance past the Chinese champions.

Today (September 12) marks two years to the day since the Chinese giants clashed in one of the most dramatic second-leg encounters in the competition’s history on a truly memorable night at theTianhe Stadium. The-AFC.com looks back at how events unfolded.