In a sign of the twists and turns to come, the West zone’s knockout stage began with two matches that were ultimately won by the team who conceded first.

When it all began in February, there was little indication of the upheaval 2020 would bring to the competition and much of the sporting world.

Doha: Daiya Maekawa has been voted by the fans as the 2020 AFC Champions League (East) Toyota Player of the Week after the Vissel Kobe 'keeper was on fine form in his side's 2-1 semi-final defeat to Ulsan Hyundai as they narrowly missed out on a place in the final.

The 26-year-old custodian, who made an impressive six saves, gained 55 percent of the fans' votes while he was also rated as number one by Stats Perform – the AFC's official data provider – with a score of 7.3.

As the clock ticks down towards Asian club football's highly anticipated showpiece event, the-AFC.com rolls back the clock 10 years to when teams from Korea Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran first faced off in the AFC Champions League final: a memorable encounter between Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Zobahan.

Reaching the AFC Champions League final for the second time in three years, Persepolis are aiming to end a 27-year continental trophy drought for Iranian clubs, since the now defunct PAS Tehran lifted the 1992-93 Asian Club Championship trophy.

Wounds of losing the 2018 final to Japan’s Kashima Antlers remain fresh in the memory of the Red Army’s fans, but a largely unchanged group of players will aim to go one step further when they take on Ulsan Hyundai at Al Janoub Stadium on Saturday.

Winners in 2012, Ulsan have the chance to become Korea Republic’s fourth two-time Asian champions, and the second club from the nation to do so in the AFC Champions League era.

As fans of the Horangi gear up for their biggest match in the best part of a decade, join the-AFC.com as we look back on the club’s history in Asia’s premier competition.