Also in Japan, Gamba Osaka were back in action for the first time since the opening round of J1 League fixtures following the Covid-19 outbreak within their squad as they played just their second game of the season.

And Kitchee SC maintained their lead at the Hong Kong Premier League summit after another convincing performance, so join the-AFC.com as we review the action from across East Asia.

As the kick-off date for the historic 2021 edition approaches, the-AFC.com looks back at the 2020 tournament which turned out to be a thrilling affair despite the challenging circumstances.

We kicked off the series in style with fans voting Persepolis FC's Mehdi Abdi Qara as the winner of the Best Headers, Ramin Rezaeian of Al Duhail topped the Best Free-Kicks, Al Nassr's Abdulrahman Al Obaid won the Best Long-Range Goals, Abderrazak Hamdallah's strike against Qatar's Al Saad on Matchday One was voted as the winner of the Best Team Goals while Persepolis' Qara topped the Best Last-Minute Goals, his teammate Hamed Lak won the Best Saves, while Pedro Conde topped the Best Clinical Finishes.

For our final week, we have a selection of seven scorers celebrating their goals in unique styles and invite you, the fan, to tell us which was your favourite.

A record 40 teams split into 10 groups will take part in the 2021 AFC Champions League as the competition continues to go from strength to strength, showcasing Asia's finest teams and numerous world-renowned players.

Having looked at the first four editions of the tournament, dominated by West Asian teams who won three out of the inaugural four titles, the second part of this series revisits the years 2007 to 2010, a period that saw the power balance shift as East Asia completed a clean sweep of titles.

A record 40 teams split into 10 groups will take part in the 2021 AFC Champions League as the competition continues to go from strength to strength, showcasing Asia's finest teams and numerous world-renowned players.

Almost 20 years ago, Asian football moved into an exciting new era as the AFC Champions League saw the merger of the Asian Club Championship and Asian Cup Winners' Cup in 2002-03, and that's where we start our look back at the tournament through the years.

Guangzhou will host Group A containing eight-time champions Guangzhou FC as well as Guangzhou City and Shenzhen FC alongside Chinese FA Cup holders Shandong Taishan, Chongqing Athletic, Henan Longmen, Qingdao FC and Cangzhou Lions.

The 32-year-old has returned to the Hong Kong Premier League champions for a third stint after he was released by Chinese Super League side Dalian Pro.

The Nigeria-born striker first signed for Kitchee from Eastern in 2009 and spent a season with the club before joining Tai Chung. He returned to Kitchee for a second spell in 2013 before signing for Chinese side Yanbian Funde in 2018.

Withe, who won the Thai league title with BEC Tero Sasana and previously coached Singapore’s Home United (now known as Lion City Sailors), will work together with Philippines Football League-winning coach Frank Muescan and player-coach Stephan Schrock.