Both Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds have one foot in the Continental final after they recorded victories in the first legs, but Qatari side Al Sadd and Guangzhou Evergrande of China PR will not give up hope yet, with a minimum of 90 exciting minutes of football still to play.

China PR's Guangzhou Evergrande, Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, Qatari club Al Sadd and Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal will resume their quest to become Asia's kings next week when the AFC Champions League recommences with the second legs of the semi-finals.

Before then, the-AFC.com looks at how their international stars got on for their nations in the most recent rounds of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

In 2007, Urawa made history as the first J.League club to be crowned Continental kings since Asia's premier club tournament underwent a revamp in 2002-03 to become the AFC Champions League.

A decade later, Urawa repeated their efforts to join Wednesday's opponents Guangzhou, Korea Republic's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia as the only two-time winners of the AFC Champions League.

Gomis and Leonardo – who has left Al Wahda to join Shabab Al Ahli since the Emirati side were eliminated – are tied with nine goals apiece, but with the Saudi team potentially having three more games to play, the Frenchman is the favourite to win the top scorer award come November 24.

But, while one more goal would see the Al Hilal target man take pole position, there remains a chasing pack who will have one eye on the accolade. Ahead of the semi-final second legs next week, the-AFC.com takes a closer look at the contenders.

Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Japan after goals from Fabricio and Takahiro Sekine, two-time Continental champions Guangzhou are up against it when they host Urawa at Tianhe Stadium in the return meeting of their final four tie.

However, the southern Chinese heavyweights have not yet lost hope. A 21-match unbeaten record in the AFC Champions League on home soil is an excellent foundation for faith and a stacked attacking line-up including some of China and Brazil's top talent is capable of finding the goals needed.

The defeat extended Guangzhou’s winless run to six straight games in all competitions and means Cannavaro’s side will need to mount a major comeback in the second leg at Tianhe Stadium on October 23 if they are to progress to the final and keep alive their hopes of a record third AFC Champions League crown.

Goals from Fabricio and Takahiro Sekine earned Urawa a first leg advantage in the semi-final over the Chinese Super League leaders, but Otsuki maintained an air of caution with the second leg at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Stadium still to be played later this month.