Q: Nasaf have finished third in the league six times in the past eight years and came second twice. What is missing for the team to be able to compete with the likes of Pakhtakor, Bunyodkor and Lokomotiv?

First of all, I have to say that Pakhtakor, Bunyodkor and Lokomotiv are capital clubs, and many talented players in Uzbekistan want to play in Tashkent; I think that is normal in football. Secondly, we are not as rich as Pakhtakor, Bunyodkor or Lokomotiv, that is why we focus on our players.

Q: You have been at the club for 20 years as a player, then coach and head coach. How do you see the progress at Nasaf?

After winning the AFC Cup in 2011, the structure and the philosophy of the club has changed. We focused on bringing up our young players. Now in our city, Qarshi, the Nasaf football academy has been working for seven years, and four of our players played in the recent AFC U23 Championship which Uzbekistan won. Of course, it gives a great pleasure to see this.

Last winners Urawa Red Diamonds may be absent, but four former continental champions – Korea Republic trio Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Ulsan Hyundai and Suwon Samsung Bluewings, as well as China’s Guangzhou Evergrande – will be among the main draws.

Group E

After missing out last year, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will make their first appearance on the continent since winning the title in 2016 when they host Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol (pictured above) on Tuesday.

Jeonbuk are an Asian powerhouse, having also won the tournament in 2006, while Kashiwa return after missing the last two editions but have never failed to make it beyond the group stage.

A pair of debutants take to the field in Tuesday’s other Group E fixture, meanwhile, as a star-studded Tianjin Quanjian side welcome Hong Kong’s Kitchee SC to northern China.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (KOR) v Kashiwa Reysol (JPN)

Venue: Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Kick-off: February 13, 19:30 UTC+9

Tianjin Quanjian (CHN) v Kitchee SC (HKG)

Venue: Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin

Kick-off: February 13, 20:00 UTC+8

The 16 teams in the West will take to the field on Monday and Tuesday, with former continental champions Al Ain, Al Hilal, Al Sadd and Esteghlal among the contenders ahead of what promises to be another scintillating campaign.

The former Pakhtakor player first arrived at the club in 2004 for a brief spell as manager, before filling in at various roles - including as a sport director and assistant manager. Since 2016, he has been the club head coach, leading them to back-to-back Uzbek League titles.

One of the youngest clubs in this year’s AFC Champions League, Lokomotiv were only established in 2002, but are already rivalling the likes of Pakhtakor for domestic supremacy and have also made large strides on the continental stage.

Photos: Getty Images, The AFC

Despite impressing at the FIFA Club World Cup 2018 in December, the 'Pride of Abu Dhabi' haven't been nearly as successful in the UAE Pro League during the 2017-18 season. With six games left to play, Al Jazira are fifth in the table, 16 points behind leaders Al Ain.

As it stands, Henk ten Cate's men only have a slim mathematical chance of retaining the title they won so convincingly last season. 

While they did begin the season well with a 2-1 win over Ajman, things soon turned sour for Al Jazira when that result was followed by shock defeats to Dibba and Al Nasr.

Although the team from the capital city improved in the weeks that followed, they never hit top form. 

By the time December rolled around, the players' focus had seemingly shifted to the FIFA Club World Cup and the desire to register a good showing at the global event that was being held in the UAE for the first time since 2010.

Tagliabue's introduction to Asian football came through Saudi Arabia’s Al Ettifaq, who recruited him as a 25-year-old in the summer of 2010 from Colombian side Once Caldas. Tagliabue wasted no time in adapting to Saudi football, firing Al Ettifaq to a third-place finish, their best since 1992, in a season where he bagged 12 strikes in 23 appearances.

The Argentine's goals took Al Ettifaq to just their second AFC Champions League in the 2012 edition, but the Dammam-based side were knocked out in the play-off stage at the hands of Iranian giants Esteghlal.

Al Ettifaq dropped to the 2012 AFC Cup, where their Argentinian poacher was on deadly form, leading them to top their group as the highest scoring side in the competition’s group stage; Tagliabue netted eight out of his side’s 18 group stage goals.

The Saudi team went on to overcome Oman’s Al Suwaiq then Indonesia's Arema FC en route to the semi-final, but by then Tagliabue had agreed a move to 2010 AFC Champions League semi-finalists Al Shabab in the capital Riyadh.