Kuala Lumpur: Qatar Stars League’s Lekhwiya and Saudi champions Al Nassr returning to AFC Champions League after a three year absence have been paired in Group A along with Iran’s Persepolis and a team advancing from the play-offs following yesterday’s draw. Lekhwiya, is the lone club from Qatar which has earn direct qualification to the continent’s premier club competition. Two other clubs, El Jaish and Al Sadd, will take the play-off route to force their way into the main draw, which features 32 top clubs from Asia including defending champions Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia. Elsewhere in the East, Korean champions and 2006 winners Jeonbuk Hyundai will meet Chinese FA Cup holders Shandong Luneng and Vietnamese champions Becamex Binh Duong in Group E in addition to a team from the play-offs. And in Group F, 2008 champions and J League winners Gamba Osaka will face two-time Asian champions Seongnam FC, Thailand’s Buriram United as well as the final play-off winner. In the West, last year’s finalists Al Hilal will look to go one better starting with a Group C that includes Foolad Khouzestan from Iran as well as Uzbekistan’s Lokomotiv Tashkent and one of four play-off winners from the West. Defeated by Al Hilal in last year’s semi-final, Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates will also be keen to go further having come so close in the previous edition. The inaugural AFC Champions League winners have been drawn in Group B alongside Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab, Uzbek League champions Pakhtakor and a play-off winner. The eight outstanding places in the group stage of the AFC Champions League will be decided by the play-offs which take place over four rounds at the start of February with the first group stage matches set for February 24 and 25.