One of the biggest rivalries in Asian football will take place on the continental stage on Tuesday when Al Ittihad travel to Riyadh to face Al Hilal in the first leg. Since the AFC Champions League was launched in 2002-03, they have each won two titles apiece while Al Hilal have won Asia’s most prestigious club tournament a record four times.

 

When the teams last met in the AFC Champions League back in the 2019 quarter-finals, it was Al Hilal who ran out 3-1 winners on aggregate en route to being crowned champions. However, both clubs have undergone huge changes in the ensuing years to mean, this time round, a number of world-renowned players will be lining up for the sides. 

Despite losing Neymar to a long-term injury earlier in the campaign, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ruben Neves are among a star-studded overseas contingent at Al Hilal. And they join a host of Saudi internationals, headlined by reigning AFC Player of the Year Salem Al Dawsari, in a formidable line-up that leads the way in the Saudi Pro League. 

 

It’s been a tougher season for the Jeddah giants, but with Fabinho and N’Golo Kante in midfield, Abderrazak Hamdallah in fine form up front and Karim Benzema recently returning to the side, they boast the quality to beat any team on their day. It’s all set up for a memorable night at Kingdom Arena as Saudi Arabia’s two most successful clubs prepare to do battle. 

Lee Dong-jun was only at Ulsan Hyundai for one season before being snapped up by Hertha Berlin in Germany, but the winger enjoyed a fine campaign on Korea Republic’s east coast. Then 24, he was the side’s top scorer in the league while he also helped them reach the AFC Champions League semi-finals before a penalty shootout defeat to arch-rivals Pohang Steelers. 

 

While Lee spent just one campaign at Ulsan, Kim Tae-hwan made more than 250 appearances for the club between 2015 and 2023. Korea’s first-choice right-back helped the side end their 17-year K League 1 title drought in 2022, two years after winning the AFC Champions League as Ulsan were crowned kings of Asia for the second time.

After finding life tough in Germany, Lee returned to his homeland to join Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in early 2023, but perhaps more surprising was Kim’s decision – on the back of winning a second successive league title last season – to swap Ulsan for Jeonju at the beginning of the year, bringing the curtain down on a trophy-laden final few years at the club.

 

Having overcome another Korean side, Pohang, in the Round of 16, Lee and Kim are now set to line up against their former club when Jeonbuk host Ulsan on Tuesday. The Horangi know exactly what the pair are capable of down the right flank – their task at Jeonju World Cup Stadium will be to stop them in their tracks.

With three of Saudi Arabia’s traditional big four featuring in the AFC Champions League this season on the back of headline-grabbing spending over the past year, the Saudi Pro League clubs have proved too strong for their continental rivals to date. The trio of Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr all topped their groups before advancing to the last eight. 

 

With Al Hilal and Al Ittihad facing off in one quarter-final, one semi-final spot for the country is guaranteed. Whether the Saudi Pro League takes both places will be decided by the match-up between an Al Nassr side spearheaded by Ronaldo and the inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain. 

With six wins and no defeats from eight matches, Al Nassr will start as favourites, but after several disappointing campaigns on the continent, Al Ain have been resurgent and resilient this time round. Joint-top scorers in the group stage, they then netted a stoppage-time winner to defeat FC Nasaf in the last 16 and return to the quarter-finals for the first time since 2017.

 

The 2002-03 champions, who also reached the final in 2005 and 2016, face their toughest test yet when they host Al Nassr on Monday. In Kodjo Laba and Soufiane Rahimi they have no shortage of firepower up front, although keeping the Riyadh side out at the other end could prove a tall order as the Emiratis look to prevent an all-Saudi semi-final. 

You have to go back to 2019 to find the last time a Chinese side reached the AFC Champions League semi-finals, when Guangzhou FC were beaten by Urawa Red Diamonds as their dreams of winning a third title were ended. In the COVID-19-impacted campaigns between 2020 and 2022, teams from China struggled, but Shandong Taishan have returned in fine fashion. 

 

One of China’s most decorated clubs, Shandong were quarter-finalists on the continent in 2005 and 2016, but have yet to go beyond the last eight. However, after seeing off Kawasaki Frontale in dramatic circumstances in the previous round thanks to Jadson’s stoppage-time winner in Japan, they have a chance to go further than ever before.

Standing in their way are Yokohama F. Marinos – a side they know only too well after suffering successive defeats to the Japanese club in the group stage. But although Marinos have had the edge in the previous meetings, they struggled to overcome Bangkok United in the last 16, while Shandong’s 4-2 win away to Kawasaki showed exactly what they’re capable of. 

 

And roared on by the biggest crowds in the East Asia side of the draw, with in excess of 46,000 turning out against Kawasaki, there is sure to be an electric atmosphere at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre on Tuesday as Shandong set their sights on a first semi-final appearance to help ensure clubs from the Chinese Super League are competing for the biggest prizes once more. 

Five of the eight sides competing in the quarter-finals have won Asia’s biggest club competition previously, with Al Hilal out in front on four titles. Behind them, Al Ittihad, Jeonbuk and Ulsan have all lifted the trophy twice, while Al Ain were the first team to win the competition after it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.

 

In total, nine of the 20 editions of the AFC Champions League have been won by sides still in the current edition, with only Al Nassr and Yokohama – both of whom have won the now defunct Asian Cup Winners’ Cup – and Shandong yet to taste glory in the competition.

On an individual level, some big names are looking to add an AFC Champions League medal to the UEFA Champions League titles they won previously. Saudi-based stars Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Aymeric Laporte, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho (as well as the injured Neymar) have all been crowned European champions and now have their sights set on an Asian title.

 

It is a feat no player has achieved before, with the likes of Xavi – a semi-finalist with Al Sadd in 2018 – and Andres Iniesta – who also reached the final four with Vissel Kobe in 2020 – among those who have gone close but fallen just short. Ahead of a mouthwatering set of quarter-finals, history is there to be written for those involved.