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Asia’s premier club competition returned over the past week with the first legs of the eight Round of 16 encounters taking place in six countries across the continent.
Six former winners were among the cast while four of the teams were competing in the knockout rounds for the first time as the tournament staged its first matches of 2024.
Ahead of the return meetings next week, AFC Media highlights the stats and facts that stood out from the first legs.
Bumper crowds
The biggest crowd of the AFC Champions League 2023/24 so far was recorded in Isfahan, where 61,265 spectators turned out at Naghsh-E-Jahan Stadium to witness Iranian side Sepahan’s 3-1 home defeat against Al Hilal.
In China, 46,273 were present at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre to watch Shandong Taishan’s 3-2 loss against Kawasaki Frontale. It was the third-highest crowd of the tournament to date and the largest attendance recorded in the East Asia side of the draw.
Mitrovic moves level
Aleksandar Mitrovic’s late strike to put Al Hilal 2-1 up against Sepahan saw the Serbian striker move onto six goals for the campaign. He now sits joint-top of the scoring charts with Al Nassr’s Talisca and Shandong’s Cryzan.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, four of Mitrovic’s six goals have come with his head – two more than any other player in this season’s competition.
Hernandes doubles up
Having signed for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the off-season, Brazilian winger Hernandes has now scored for two different clubs in this season’s AFC Champions League.
Hernandes fired home the opener in the 2-0 win over Pohang Steelers as the 24-year-old added to the four goals he netted for Incheon United in the group stage to rise to joint-second in the scoring charts.
Creative force
Marcelo Brozovic created a Matchday high six chances for his teammates during Al Nassr’s 1-0 win over domestic rivals Al Fayha. Only Urawa Red Diamonds’ Takuya Ogiwara (7) has created more in a single game this campaign when he did so on Matchday Six.
With Al Nassr struggling to break their domestic rivals’ resistance, Brozovic was instrumental in their late winner, linking up perfectly with Cristiano Ronaldo to tee up the Portuguese striker’s winner.
Six on the bounce
Having been a goal down against Sepahan, Al Hilal roared back in the second half to level just before the hour and then score two goals in added time to seal the 3-1 victory.
The 2019 and 2021 AFC Champions League winners have now won an impressive six games in a row since their opening-day draw with Navbahor.
Trio remain undefeated
After Pohang Steelers lost 2-0 against domestic rivals Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to see their unbeaten run ended, just three teams remain undefeated.
The aforementioned Al Hilal (6 wins, 1 draw) are joined by Riyadh rivals Al Nassr (5 wins, two draws) and Kawasaki Frontale (6 wins, 1 draw) and all three will look to prolong their records ahead of home fixtures next week.
Al Ain draw first blank
Al Ain went into their first leg away to FC Nasaf in Uzbekistan with a joint-tournament-leading 17 goals from their six matches in the group stage as the Emirati side found the back of the net at a rate of almost three per game.
The ensuing 0-0 draw saw Nasaf become the first side to prevent Al Ain from scoring to mean the tie remains firmly in the balance ahead of the return meeting as Nasaf target a place in the quarter-finals for the first time.
Hot shots
And finally, with Al Ain being held goalless, Kawasaki moved out in front when it comes to goals scored, with their 3-2 victory away to Shandong Taishan taking them to 20 goals from seven games.
Al Hilal are now second on the list with 19 goals, while both Al Ain and Sepahan have 17. Of the sides remaining in the competition, Al Ittihad have the fewest goals with eight.
