The Iranian giants will not learn their opponents for December's finale until the sides in East Asia complete their half of the draw later in the year as the Continent's premier club competition gets set to take centre stage once more from mid-November onwards.

Before which, the-AFC.com looks back at the facts and figures that caught the eye in the West, from the opening Matchdays in February to the end of the knockout rounds in Qatar.

We’ve cast our net across Europe, Africa and North America to find the best Asian performers outside the continent over the last week. Now it’s up to you to help us select a winner.

Here are our 10 nominees from September 29 to October 5.

The Uzbekistan squad features 11 players from Pakhtakor, the Tashkent club which exited the 2020 AFC Champions League after a 2-0 quarter-final defeat by Iranian champions Persepolis FC in Qatar last week.

Persepolis, who later went on to qualify for December’s continental final by beating Saudi Arabia’s Al Nassr, have supplied five players in the Iranian travelling party, which arrived in Tashkent on Tuesday night.

Le Fondre, who was a key part of Steve Corica’s side that won back-to-back Grand Finals in 2019 and 2020, will leave Sydney after two seasons in Australia, where he topped the club’s scoring charts in each of the campaigns he spent in the A-League.

The 23-year-old midfielder join Al Nassr from compatriots Al Fateh on a five-year deal as the Riyadh giants prepare for the start of the new Saudi Pro League season next week.

This will be the 23-year-old winger's second stint in Europe after playing two seasons in Cyprus with APOEL, where he assisted the club to the 2018-2019 Cypriot League and 2019 Super Cup.

Al Taamari started his career in Jordan with Shabab Al Ordon in 2016 and made his international debut the same year, featuring in three matches in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 and scoring against Syria in the group stage.

The 31-year-old midfielder signed with Al Ahli for one season with an option to renew the contract with the nine-time Saudi Pro League champions.

After playing for the youth teams of Wydad Casablanca, Fettouhi started his professional career in France with Le Havre before spending four seasons with second division outfit FC Istres.