Iran's Sepahan has gained an emphatic 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia's Al-Ettifaq while Esteghlal played to a 2-2 draw with Al-Jazira in the 2009 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

Sepahan caretaker coach Bijan Taheri, Esteghlal coach Amir Qalenoei, and Al-Jazira coach Abel Braga all said that they were happy with their teams' last AFC matches.

Runners-up to Urawa Reds two seasons ago, the Iranian champions Sepahan again failed to make it past the Group D stage this time, but goals from Hossein Papi, Hadi Asghari, and Hamid Azizzadeh ensured that they finished their campaign with a victory at Foolad Shahr Stadium in Isfahan.

The game was largely an inconsequential affair as the Saudi side had already claimed top spot in Group D, while Sepahan, just like Esteghlal and Al-Jazira, had already been eliminated in the group stage for the second successive year.


Al-Ettifaq now face a round of 16 with the Group A runners-up, either fellow Saudi side Al-Hilal or Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor.

In other AFC Champions League action, Uzbek champions Bunyodkor, last year's semi-finalists, drew 0-0 with Al-Shabab Al-Arabi of the UAE. The point picked up was enough to secure them second place in Group D and the final west zone spot in the knockout stage.

Like Japan, Saudi Arabia has all four of its clubs through, along with Piroozi (Iran) and Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan).

Saudi champions Al-Ittihad bounced back from Friday's 4-0 defeat to Al-Shabab in the King's Cup final with a 7-0 demolition of Qatar's Umm-Salal in Jeddah to take first place in Group C. As Group C runners-up, Umm-Salal meets the winners of Group A.

FTP/ZAP/HGL