The 2016 Asian Champions League begins this week with three UAE clubs participating. They seek to become only the second Emirati side to lift the title.
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Al Ain – 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League champions
Al Jazira – 2014/15 Arabian Gulf League runners-up
Al Nasr – 2015 President's Cup winners
UAE’S ASIAN RECORD
Al Ain remain the only Emirati side to win the tournament, when they defeated Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana across two legs in 2003. Since then, two more UAE sides have reached the final: Al Ain, in 2005, and Al Ahli, last year. They were beaten by Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad and China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, respectively.
2016 GROUP STAGE
Group A Sepahan (IRN), Al Nasr, Lokomotiv (UZB), Al Ittihad (KSA)
How they qualified Sepahan (Iranian champions), Lokomotiv (Uzbek runners-up), Ittihad (4th Saudi top-flight)
Al Nasr's fixtures Feb 23 – Sepahan (a), Mar 1 –Sepahan (h), Mar 15 – Ittihad (a), Apr 6 – Ittihad (h), Apr 20 – Lokomotiv (h), May 4 – Lokomotiv (a)
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Group C Pakhtakor (UZB), Al Hilal (KSA), Tractor Sazi (IRN), Al Jazira
How they qualified Pakhtakor (Uzbek champions), Hilal (King Cup winners/3rd Saudi top flight), Tractor (Iranian runners-up)
Al Jazira's fixtures Feb 24 – Tractor (a), Mar 2 –Tractor (h), Mar 15 – Hilal (h), Apr 6 – Hilal (a), Apr 19 – Pakhtakor (h), May 3 – Pakhtakor (a)
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Group D Al Ain, Nasaf (UZB), Al Ahli (KSA), El Jaish (QAT)
How they qualified Nasaf (Uzbek Cup winners/3rd Uzbek league), Ahli (Saudi runners-up), Jaish (3rd Qatari top flight)
Al Ain's fixtures Feb 24 – Jaish (h), Mar 2 –Jaish (a), Mar 16 – Ahli (h), Apr 5 – Ahli (a), Apr 19 – Nasaf (a), May 3 – Nasaf (h)
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