The two sides had met twice in last year’s group stage, sharing the points in the first leg in Saudi Arabia, while Al Ain emerged 2-1 winners in the UAE.

Al Hilal started strongly and almost found themselves in front within three minutes through Carlos Eduardo. The Brazilian pounced on a loose ball inside the box, but goalkeeper Khaled Eisa made the save.

The home side came racing off the blocks, and nearly got their opening goal within 60 seconds of kick-off. Luiz Junior intercepted the ball in midfield and supplied Shoya Nakajima who advanced down the left and struck from a narrow angle. The Japanese’s shot was saved by Mehdi Rahmati.

Centre-back Ahmed Yasser tested the goalkeeper from distance. His powerful strike seemed destined for the top corner, but Rahmati tipped it behind in the 12th minute.

The visitors got off to a flyer, leaving the crowd at Azadi Stadium stunned as Marat Bikmaev tapped in from point-blank.

On a chilly night at the Changwon Football Center Stadium, both sides started well in an evenly contested opening half.

Shandong had the first chance of the match when Wu Xinghan was left free in the box from a free-kick, but he couldn’t direct his header on target.

At the other end, Shandong’s star signing, Belgian international Marouane Fellaini made a crucial defensive header on 11 minutes as Song Ju-hun looked to get on the end of Lee Yeong-jae’s in-swinging free-kick.

There was an early scare for the visitors when JDT goalkeeper Farizal Marlias brought down Takeshi Kanamori on the edge of the box. The away side were relieved that the referee blew for a free-kick and not a penalty.

Sanfrecce had an early chance when Hiroya Matsumoto’s ball over the top released Douglas Vieira. The striker had a clear run on goal but took the ball too far wide and his effort from a tight angle was saved by Zeng Cheng.

Guangzhou responded by starting to dominate possession and it was no surprise when they took the lead after a fine team move in the 19th minute. Li Xuepeng’s deft pass released Yu Hanchao down the left and the winger’s cross was headed in by Anderson Talisca.

In their very first AFC Champions League campaign, the 2018 Korean FA Cup champions were on the back foot early as the home side jumped out of the blocks to dominate early proceedings, with Raul Baena and Terry Antonis both having early efforts from long range.