In the West, boss Dimitri Davidovic enjoyed a perfect return to Al Ittihad as the 2005 and 2006 champions beat Al Hilal on Tuesday courtesy of a double from Portuguese midfielder Nuno Asis.

Midfielder Mohammed Noor showed superb vision to set up both of Asis' goals which arrived either side of a first half header from Abdelmalik Ziaya before Abdulaziz Aldawsari's exquisite late chip proved the only consolation for Saudi champions Al Hilal.

Newly crowned Iran Pro League champions Sepahan turned in another impressive display at the Foolad Shahr to claim a deserved success over Bunyodkor on Tuesday despite the needless second half dismissal of Ibrahima Toure.

Fabio Januario put Amir Ghalenoei's side Sepahan ahead in the first-half with an unstoppable long range strike before Toure doubled the lead.

After the Senegalese striker was sent-off, Slavoljub Djordjevic's header pulled one back for Bunyodkor before Hadi Aghily emphatically scored from the spot with just over 20 minutes remaining to seal the win.

A day later at Foolad Shahr, two goals in the opening five minutes helped Zobahan to a convincing win over Al Nassr.

Mohammad Ghazi opened the scoring after just 28 seconds before equally poor defending less than four minutes later allowed Igor Castro to head home at the back post.

Castro added a second just after the hour mark with a powerful finish from inside the area, and after Bader Al Motawaa handed Al Nassr hope three minutes later, a superb 30-yard strike from Shaahin Kheiri with 16 minutes remaining sealed the win.

Finally, after Al Sadd became the first qualifiers to reach the last 16, captain Abdulla Koni bundled home a first half corner to send the unbeaten Qatari side through to the last eight for the second time at the expense of Al Shabab.