Letting slip a two goal advantage to end up with a point might have most team captains reflect on a tie with disappointment, but Perth icon Castro was in an upbeat mood following the six-goal thriller in Group F.

The reason for the 38-year-old's positivity? The performance of the young tyros in the team, some of whom were not even born when the Spaniard was making his professional debut in his homeland.

Knowing a win over the already-eliminated Australians would significantly boost their chances of securing a place in the Round of 16, Shenhua fell two goals behind, then scored three of their own in 11 minutes to take the lead in the Group F tie before a late penalty from Neil Kilkenny earned Perth their first point of the tournament.

Shenhua are now level on points with second-placed FC Tokyo and no closer to learning their Round of 16 stage fate, with Thursday’s simultaneous Matchday Six clashes to settle once and for all which team will join group winners Ulsan Hyundai in the next round.

The Korea Republic side came from behind to beat FC Tokyo 2-1, installing themselves as guaranteed Group F winners with a game to spare thanks to a spectacular brace from Yoon Bit-garam, who supplied the winning goal with five minutes remaining.

A second-half revival saw Chiangrai United claw back Melbourne Victory’s two-goal lead as Siwakorn Tiatrakul’s free-kick and Gionata Verzura’s tidy finish cancelled out Jake Brimmer’s spot-kick and Ben Folami’s lob for the Australians.

Despite a late avalanche of attacks, the AFC Champions League debutants could not find a winner to sustain their challenge for a Round of 16 berth and had to make do with a 2-2 draw to reach four points.

The A-League champions brushed off the disappointment of early group stage elimination to deliver their biggest ever win in Asia’s premier competition, with Trent Buhagiar bagging a brace to follow earlier goals from Alex Wilkinson and Luke Brattan.

Yokohama reached the knockout stage for the first time in club history with the win, as goals from Theerathon Bunmathan, Marcos Junior and Terhuito Nakagawa, plus a Song Bum-keun own goal, rounded out a banner day for the 2019 J League champions.

After a quiet first half, Suwon Samsung finally got off the mark in the competition through Lim Sang-heyob’s tap-in on the rebound from Lee Ki-je’s free-kick. Wei Shihao equalised for Guangzhou Evergrande in the 72nd minute, but they were reduced to 10 men just two minutes later as Zhon Yihao was dismissed for a second bookable offence.

The draw meant Suwon Samsung Bluewings need to beat runaway group leaders Vissel Kobe with two goals if they are to snatch the second place in the group, currently occupied by Guangzhou Evergrande who have already completed their group stage fixtures.