A COVID-19 outbreak in the squad forced Al Hilal to withdraw from last year's competition, which meant the Saudi Pro League champions could not defend the AFC Champions League title won in 2019.

The 2019 crown was added to the earlier Asian Club Championship titles Al Hilal had in their trophy cabinet and for Uzbekistan's AGMK, the tie at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium promises to be tough test in their competition debut.

With no shortage of attacking talent on display, we shine the spotlight on six frontmen who are on fire in their clubs’ domestic campaigns and could be set to bring those hot streaks onto the Asian stage in this year's continental club competition.

Some of these starlets are established players for their club sides and some have even appeared in previous AFC Champions League seasons, while several are just breaking into the starting XI, but those U23 players are all eyeing a milestone campaign over the next three weeks.

With the 20 remaining teams from East Asia set to begin their continental campaigns a little later in the year, the-AFC.com looks at some of the numbers that stand out ahead of the start of the 19th edition of the AFC Champions League.

Among the sides taking to the field over the next two days are two former champions and four debutants, while three countries will be represented in the competition for the very first time.

Ahead of a mouthwatering 10 fixtures on April 14 and 15, the-AFC.com has selected five things to look out for.

Following the success of the 2020 competition held in Qatar, this year’s group stage takes place in a centralised format but across four cities in three different countries as the AFC continues to find solutions for the beautiful game in the continent to navigate the challenges of the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and - for the first time - India are hosting the 2021 AFC Champions League group stage games. the-AFC.com profiles the host grounds.