Persepolis to Play with Pakhtakor at 2020 AFC Champions League Quarters, Al Nassr Play Al Ahli

Doha, September 29 (QNA) - Iran's Persepolis football club will meet Uzbek club Pakhtakor in the 2020 AFC Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium. Persepolis sealed their quarter-final berth in dramatic fashion on Sunday, with Issa Alekasir scoring an 88th minute winner for the Iran Pro League champions against Qatar's Al Sadd SC. Pakhtakor were semi-finalists in 2003 and 2004 while Al Nassr, runners-up in the 1995 Asian Club Championship, will be appearing in their second successive AFC Champions League quarter-finals. Pakhtakor's return to the quarter-finals saw them top Group B of the 2020 AFC Champions League with an unbeaten record and only one goal conceded following the annulment of Al Hilal SFC's results. Persepolis have never beaten Pakhtakor in three previous encounters in the AFC Champions League. The Uzbeks won 1-0 in the group stage of the 2002-03 edition, pipping Persepolis to the top of Group D thanks to that win. In 2019, they were again pitted together in Group D and played out a 1-1 draw at Azadi Stadium before Pakhtakor won 1-0 in Tashkent, but both teams were eliminated at the group stage Al Nassr and Al Ahli will play in an all-Saudi Arabia clash in another quarters. None of the four West Zone quarter-finalists have won the AFC Champions League before, with Al Ahli Saudi and Persepolis finishing runners-up in 2012 and 2018 respectively. Al Ahli Saudi were also runners-up in the 1985-86 season of the Asian Club Championship. (QNA)