The teams have never previously faced off, with Frontale meeting a side from Qatar for the first time while this will be Al Sadd's maiden encounter against a Japanese club.

Al Sadd have only won once against East Asian teams on the continental stage (W1 D1 L3), with their sole victory being against Korea Republic's Suwon Samsung in the first leg of the 2011 semi-finals. In fact, this will be the Qatari side's first meeting with an East Asian team since defeating Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on penalties in the 2011 final.

Kawasaki Frontale will be bidding to qualify for the semi-finals for the first time while Al Sadd will be chasing a fourth appearance - having advanced to the last four stage in 2011, 2018, and 2019.

Frontale, who have only conceded five goals, have kept clean sheets in six matches this season, their highest tally in a single edition of the competition. They are the Japanese team with the most clean sheets in the competition's history (33 matches).

For the third time in their history, Al Sadd have scored in 12 consecutive matches in the AFC Champions League Elite, but have never scored in a longer streak in the competition. 

This will be Frontale's third match against a West Asian team in the AFC Champions League Elite after their encounters against Sepahan Isfahan in 2007 - both ending in goalless draws before the Japanese side advanced on penalties.

Captain Akram Afif has contributed to goals in his last four matches in the AFC Champions League Elite (3 goals and 2 assists), the second Al Sadd player to contribute to goals in four consecutive matches after Baghdad Bounedjah.

Frontale have had 13 goal scorers in the AFC Champions League Elite this season, more than any other team. They scored four goals in the last game against Shanghai Shenhua, all of which were netted by different players.