Jeonbuk face Suwon in all-Korean AFC Champions League tie

HONG KONG: Two-time champions Jeonbuk Motors will take on fellow South Koreans Suwon Bluewings in the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League when the continental club championship resumes in August.

Jeonbuk, who won the title in 2006 and 2016, overcame a first-leg deficit to see off Thailand’s Buriram United and were drawn to face Suwon at the Asian Football Confederation’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Former Asian Club Championship winners Suwon have already defeated Korean opposition in the knockout phase after beating Ulsan Hyundai in the previous round. Tianjin Quanjian, China’s sole remaining representative in the competition, will take on Japan’s Kashima Antlers after Paulo Sousa’s team eliminated twotime champions Guangzhou Evergrande n the away goals rule in the Round of 16.

Kashima, meanwhile, are appearing in the last eight for the first time since 2008 and progressed to the quarter-finals after beating current Chinese Super League leaders Shanghai SIPG over two legs.

In the west of the continent, Qatar’s Al Duhail will take their perfect record in the competition so far into a meeting with last year’s semi-finalists Persepolis. Al Duhail won all six of their group matches before back-to-back wins over former champions Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates in the Round of 16 to set up the meeting with the Iranian league champions.

Another Iranian side, Esteghlal, will also take on Qatari opposition after being drawn to play Doha-based Al Sadd. Clubs from the west and east of the confederation are drawn separately with representatives of each side of the continent meeting in the final.

The first legs of the quarter-finals will be played from August 27 to 29 with the return clashes held from September 17 to 19. — Reuters