The Chinese Super League champions could not have asked for a worse start in their tie with Continental heavyweights Jeonbuk, conceding in the opening minute after Moon Seon-min's clever finish.

However, the hosts responded with Wang heading home Yu Hai's cross six minutes before half-time. Chances came and went after the interval but a 1-1 draw was to be the final scoreline. A result that Wang feels, while fair, does put his side in a difficult position going into the second leg on Wednesday.

Moon Seon-min gave Jeonbuk a dream start when Jose Morais’ side took the lead with less than a minute on the clock only for Wang Shenchao to level the scores six minutes before half-time with a close range header.

But Moon’s goal means a goalless draw next week at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium will be enough for the 2006 and 2016 winners to advance to the last eight of the competition for the ninth time in their history.

The first leg of the Round of 16 pitted the champions of China PR and Korea Republic against each other and it took Moon less than a minute to open the scoring and silence the home support inside Shanghai Stadium.

With the outside of his right foot, Lim clipped a pinpoint delivery over the top of the Shanghai defence which Moon latched onto before lifting the ball over Yan Junling to break the deadlock before carrying out one of the more unique celebrations the competition has seen this season.

The clash at Kashima Soccer Stadium paired the two sides against Japanese opposition for the first time ever in the Continental competition and it was Sanfrecce who went into the game as the form team having won five in a row in the group stage.

But in a closely contested match it was defending champions Kashima who gained the upper hand after Brazilian Serginho scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half following excellent work from Doi.

Guangzhou managed to mute the duo for much of the 90 minutes at Tianhe Stadium on Tuesday evening as the two-time champions ran out 2-1 winners in the all-Chinese Super League encounter and a draw will now be enough for Evergrande to advance to the last eight for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Serginho proved to be the lone goalscorer of the match with a first-half header for the defending champions. This was the first all-Japanese tie in the Round of 16 since 2011 and the 17th overall between clubs from Japan in the history of the AFC Champions League.

Both sides were coming off inspiring 2-0 home wins in domestic competition at the weekend as the title holders and Hiroshima clashed for the first time in Asia’s flagship club tournament.

Wei Shihao put two-time champions Guangzhou Evergrande in front 10 minutes before halftime but a stunning strike from Zhang Chi midway through the second period earned Shandong an away goal ahead of next week’s clash in Jinan.

But Yang’s effort in the 80th minute which took a deflection off Shandong defender Zheng Zheng means Guangzhou are 90 minutes away from booking their place in the last eight of the competition for the sixth time in eight seasons.