Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad the teams to beat after AFC Asian Champions League draw

Some of the clubs may not be too familiar to the likes of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema but these superstars now know who they will be facing in the 2023-24 AFC Asian Champions League.

The draw in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday was a low-key affair but all of the 40 teams who start on this journey — with the tournament now an autumn-to-spring affair — know that the quartet of Saudi Arabian clubs are the ones to beat.

With Al-Nassr squeezing through the playoffs with a 4-2 win over Shabab Al-Ahli on Tuesday and going into Pot 4, any group they entered was always going to earn that well-known cliched tag. There is no “death” here though as Group E is alive with talent, history and excitement.

It contains Iranian titans Persepolis, one of the biggest clubs in Asia, and there could be 100,000 fans in Tehran to greet the Yellows when they arrive. That will be quite the clash and will show those who are new to Asian football what the competition is all about.

Al-Duhail are not only the champions of Qatar but reached the semifinals last time around and have Hernan Crespo as coach. The other team in the group is far from a whipping boy too. Istiklol of Tajikistan beat Al-Hilal in 2021 and cannot be underestimated.

Al-Nassr will be fancied to go through given the talent at coach Luis Castro’s disposal but the Portuguese boss, who has had a poor start to the domestic season with two defeats from two, may end up wishing that he had been handed an easier ride.

Al-Hilal’s certainly looks to be a smoother ride to the last 16 and their three opponents have just one previous appearance in the tournament between them. It is less than four months since the Blues lost the final to Urawa Reds and missed the chance to extend