The Japanese capital side had first competed in the 2012 AFC Champions League, reaching the Round of 16 before exiting at the hands of Guangzhou Evergrande.

Four years later, they repeated the feat and it was Shanghai SIPG who knocked them out. Now four more years afterwards, they are set to face a third Chinese team, Beijing FC at the same stage.

The K League runners up made sweeping changes to their line-up but there was little difference in terms of the result, with Park Jeong-in and Lee Sang-heon both scoring early before Bjørn Johnsen added a late brace in a fifth consecutive win for Kim Do-hoon’s side.

While Ulsan can look forward to the business end of the competition, it was the end of the road for Shenhua, who pulled a goal back through Bi Jinhao at the hour mark.

With the top spot in the group secured by Beijing FC, the two sides went into the game with the knowledge that their future in the competition hung on achieving a result on the night, for Melbourne Victory that meant the three points only, while a draw would be enough for FC Seoul.

Chiangrai looked set to inflict Beijing's first defeat of the competition when substitute Ekanit Panya put them ahead in the 55th minute, but another replacement, Beijing’s A Lan, squared the ledger with 14 minutes remaining, only to miss a penalty kick in the dying moments.

The 2019 J League champions know their place in the Round of 16 is secure and, with an unlikely combination of results needed to dethrone them as Group H winners, and Postecoglou did confirm that he will use the fixture to freshen up his squad.

But that doesn’t mean the former Australian national team boss sees the clash against his countrymen as any less meaningful, and he declared the match at Al Janoub Stadium a golden opportunity for his side to continue to impress.

Sitting in third place, the Korea Republic side need to win by a two-goal margin to overtake Guangzhou Evergrande, who are in second place on five points with a goal difference of zero, having drawn both games together.

Vissel Kobe and Suwon Samsung Bluewings met back in February and with the score tied at 0-0, Kyogo Furuhashi’s extremely late effort gave the J1 League side the win at Suwon World Cup Stadium.

A 10-goal difference separates runners-up Shanghai SIPG from group leaders Yokohama F. Marinos who face bottom side Sydney FC simultaneously at Al Janoub Stadium, meaning the top spot is beyond Vitor Perreira’s men unless the Australians can cruise past their opponents while SIPG do the same to hit 12 points and bridge that gap.

More realistically, the Chinese Super League side will be looking forward to their Round of 16 encounter against confirmed Group G winners Vissel Kobe.