Al-Ain 2–0 Sepahan

Ghalenoei knew victory against Al-Ain at the Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium in UAE would guarantee a second round appearance. Unfortunately for the Yellows, a 2-0 loss left them crossing their fingers and watching events elsewhere – events that would ultimately go against them.

A brace from Argentinian international Jose Sand was enough to give all three points to the home side, who ended their campaign with a little pride, and condemned their opponents to early elimination. The former River man grabbed the first from the spot a couple of minutes before the break and his second with 20 minutes left.

Al Shabab 2–1 Pakhtakor Tashkent

With Pakhtakor sitting atop Group C on 9 points and Shabab just behind them, both sides were well aware a victory for third place Sepahan would mean one of them would crash out tonight. “I will try a completely different strategy from the one used against Al Ittihad,” said Al Shabab coach Edgar Parreira in his pre-match press conference. Whatever it was, it worked.

Shabab went a goal behind courtesy of a Sherzod Karimov strike after half an hour, but the visitors struggled after Aleksander Kletskov received his marching orders five minutes later. The home side’s pressure eventually told when Tarik El Taib equalised from the penalty spot shortly after the hour mark, leaving Angolan international Flavio to grab a later winner to send his side through to the second round.