In a change from the regular season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CSL was split into two groups of eight with the teams playing each other twice. The top four earned a place in the Championship Stage while those in the bottom half were condemned to the Relegation Stage, both of which will played out from a two-legged quarter-final stage onwards.

Following the completion of the league phase, the likes of defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande, 2018 winners Shanghai SIPG and capital city giants Beijing FC are all gunning for the title, while Dalian Pro, Guangzhou R&F and Wuhan Zall are among the teams who will be desperate to avoid dropping into the second tier.

With the knockout round phase of the season almost upon us, the-AFC.com highlights three stories to follow.

In what is arguably the world's most diverse club football tournament, the next stunning strikes come from West and South Asia as we bring you two more goals that lit up the AFC Cup.

After bringing you four efforts from years gone by over the first two days of the contest, our latest selection features a contrasting pair of wonder strikes from the 2015 and 2019 editions.

The new calendar also means that the majority of the 2020-21 season will be played concurrently with the grassroots football season.

The 161 men’s matches will be played over 23 weeks, with the Grand Final set for June, and the women’s 57 games will finish with a Grand Final in April.

In a departure from our usual weekly poll, we’ve narrowed down the best performers from the various international matches featuring Asian sides over the last week, now it’s up to you to decide who was Asia’s standout player over the international break.

Here are our eight nominees:

The V.League began life in a semi-professional capacity back in 1980 and didn't turn professional until after the turn of the millennium but plenty of history has been written ever since.

As the-AFC.com continues its look at the biggest teams from the domestic leagues across Asia, we've selected five teams – based on both success and fanbase – as Vietnam's most popular clubs. Review the candidates and vote for your favourite at the bottom of the article.

Khalilzadeh got the Islamic Republic of Iran champions on the road to a victory they needed to advance to the Round of 16 with his header as Persepolis scored a 4-0 win in their Matchday Six tie.

Check out all the nominees and the poll result at the bottom of the article.