Turkmenistan's ‘Arkadag’ kicked off the AFC Champions League group stage with a 0-0 draw against Uzbekistan's ‘Andijan’ at a packed home stadium. Both clubs made their debut in the tournament: the hosts qualified as winners of the AFC Challenge League, while the visitors qualified as holders of the Uzbekistan Cup. This was reported by IIC.

The most dangerous moments came at the start of the match: in the 39th second, Nigerian Ismaheel Akinade shot over the goal, and shortly afterwards his goal was disallowed for offside. In the counterattack, ‘Andijan’ goalkeeper Erjan Tokotayev confidently parried the hosts' free kicks. In the second half, the teams continued to control each other, and in the final minutes, substitute Shamammet Hydyrov was unable to beat the visitors' goalkeeper.

In a parallel match in Group B, Qatar's ‘Al-Ahli’ and Bahrain's ‘Al-Khaldiya’ also played 0-0. All four teams in the group have one point each. ‘Arkadag’ will play its next game on 1 October in Bahrain against ‘Al-Khaldiya’.