In their fourth appearance in the competition, and the first since 2014, Yokohama F. Marinos have reached the knockout stage for the first time in their history under the guidance of Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou who hopes to become the first manager to be crowned Asian champion at national and club levels, having led the Socceroos to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup title at home.

The Chinese outfit defeated FC Tokyo 1-0 on Sunday to stretch their unbeaten run in the competition to seven – itself a club record – and ending a run of Round of 16 defeats in 2010, 2013, and 2015.

Inspired by a virtuoso display by Player of the Match Renato Augusto, Beijing found the decisive goal in the 59th-minute through A Lan, formerly known as Alan Carvalho, who netted his fourth goal of the tournament to put Beijing to within three wins of a maiden Asian title.

Three goals from substitutes – two from Bjørn Johnson and another from Won Du-jae – proved decisive for the Korean club, who toiled for an hour against the gallant Australian side before running away with the contest in the closing stages.

It was Ulsan’s sixth successive win since arriving in Qatar last month, and it put an end to a run of defeats in the AFC Champions League Round of 16; the stage in which their Asian journey had ended in the past two seasons.

Topping Group G, the Kobe-based side had a rather less intense schedule having only played three games since the restart following Johor Darul Ta’zim’s withdrawal from the tournament leaving just three teams battling for the group’s two qualifying spots.

Qualification was achieved with two games to spare, leaving coach Atsuhiro Miura with the luxury of rotating his players and experimenting as back-to-back 2-0 defeats did little to change their status as group winners.

Two clubs will be making their first appearances in the last 16, which features an Australian side for the first time in four years, as the eight remaining teams – from four countries – prepare to battle it out to go deeper into the competition.

With more red-hot action set to excite fans across the Continent, the-AFC.com has selected five things to look out for.

Some of the Continent's finest players have been on show in Qatar with established names and emerging talents displaying their ability in Asia's most prestigious club competition.

With the knockout rounds now leaving no margin for error, the-AFC.com profiles eight stars who have shone in the group stage and will be crucial to their sides' chances of going deeper into the tournament.

While Al Nassr’s seven-goal striker Abderazzaq Hamdallah announced himself as the king of the West earlier in the competition, there are still several candidates from the East who could topple the Moroccan star in the remaining rounds.

Join the-AFC.com as we examine five of the current contenders for most important scoring title in Asian football, all of whom could still be crowned the Golden Boot winner for 2020.