The J.League side were crowned Continental champions for the first time last year but their third-place finish in the league was only enough to grant entry into the 2019 competition’s qualifying rounds.

Kashima, who also reached the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup in December, appeared in the inaugural AFC Champions League and have qualified for the knockout round six times.

Shandong have made the group stage of the tournament eight times, with their last appearance coming in 2016 when they reached the quarter-finals before elimination to FC Seoul.

A third-place finish in the 2018 Chinese Super League ensured the Jinan side moved within 90 minutes of returning to the competition, while they warmed up for the match by winning the Lunar New Year Cup pre-season tournament in Hong Kong two weeks ago.

The three-time J.League champions finished second in the league last year, having only narrowly avoided relegation a year earlier. But while they have long since been a force in their homeland, they have failed to emulate that on the continent.

Sanfrecce’s best performance in the AFC Champions League came in 2014 when they advanced to the Round of 16 before defeat to eventual champions Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia, while in 2010, 2013 and 2016 they fell at the group stage.

In total, seven countries will be represented with two sides from Japan and a team apiece from Australia, China, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all aiming to secure their places in the competition proper.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, Qatar and Uzbekistan each have two clubs vying to reach the Continental competition while both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have one, with all to be decided in the one-legged match-ups.

Defending champions Kashima Antlers from Japan are joined by domestic rivals Sanfrecce Hiroshima, while 2012 winners Ulsan Hyundai of Korea Republic and China’s Shandong Luneng make up the four seeded teams with Australia’s Newcastle Jets, Thailand’s Chiangrai United, Malaysia’s Perak and Hanoi FC of Vietnam having joined after victories in the Preliminary Stage 2.

An AFC Champions League MVP, an Italian international and a pair of AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) Cup finalists are among our players to look out for as the Continental tournament draws nearer.

Two teams from Uzbekistan (Pakhtakor and AGMK) and as many from IR Iran (Zobahan and Saipa) made their way to the play-off stage, joining Qatari duo Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan, while Al Nasr of the UAE and Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia round off the West Asian sides competing for four spots in the AFC Champions League group stage.

From those who starred in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 to a former Premier League and a journeyman of Asian football, these eight players will be key for their teams' chances of progressing to the next stage.