A host of big names will make their AFC Champions League bows, while no fewer than eight former winners will be on show. Ahead of the first round of fixtures, the-AFC.com picks out five things to look out for.

In the above slideshow, you will find all 29 designated home grounds for use in this year's edition of the tournament, ranked in order from largest to smallest capacity.

The 31-year-old midfielder was not always popular at Old Trafford because United fans felt his awkward style was not in keeping with the Premier League side's attacking traditions.

But the Belgian international needed just 50 minutes to make his mark in the Chinese Super League (CSL), taking a touch with his right foot before swivelling and slotting home with his left from just outside the six-yard box.

His poacher's strike turned out to be the winner in a 1-0 home victory for Shandong over Beijing Renhe in the opening match of the Chinese season.

The Doha club stole the headlines in the first half of 2018, winning eight games in a row on their march to the quarter-finals, before they matched Ulsan Hyundai’s record of nine successive wins, from 2012, by defeating Persepolis 1-0 in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

A 3-1 defeat in the return meeting saw Al Duhail exit but, having since acquired high-calibre signings including Medhi Benatia and Shoya Nakajima, and boasting several players – including Al Rawi – from Qatar’s victorious AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 campaign, the defender believes Al Duhail are ready to challenge for the Continental trophy.

Striker Sebastian Tagliabue is eyeing a deep run in the 2019 AFC Champions League for his team Al Wahda, ahead of their opening Group B clash against PFC Lokomotiv of Uzbekistan.

The Abu Dhabi-based club have failed to make the knock-out stages in each of their six previous attempts, which included five group stage exits and one elimination at the play-offs in 2015. Their last appearance in the latter stages of the competition saw them reach the semi-finals in 2007.

After exiting in the qualifying rounds in each of the past four years, Johor have finally realised their ambition of joining the Continent’s elite in Asia’s premier club competition, with the 2018 Malaysia Super League champions gaining automatic entry into the 2019 group stage.

And they could have been given no tougher introduction than at the home of the defending champions Kashima, who eased past Australia’s Newcastle Jets 4-1 in the play-off round to qualify for the group stage.

Losing a star player is never easy on a side, but it's not unreasonable to say that with Wu Lei's transfer from Shanghai SIPG to Spain's RCD Espanyol the CSL side have lost a player who is very much part of the heart and soul of the side, having made his debut for the club at just 14 years old.

As the all-time leading goalscorer and appearance-maker for the club, the 27-year-old forward's exit is, undeniably, a blow for the team, but Shanghai SIPG goalkeeper Yan Junling is insistent that the side need to - and are able to - maintain the kind of form that saw them crowned China PR's league champions last year.