The Uzbekistan side will meet Persepolis of Iran on Wednesday in the AFC Campions League (west) quarter-finals.

“All three teams would have been difficult opponents,” said Pakhtakor assistant coach Pieter Huistra. “Persepolis is a great team and we know them quite well because we faced them last year in the group stage and it is champion of Iran, so we have to be ready and have to be in good shape but we are confident. We played some good games already here and we are looking forward to Wednesday to play again.”

“They had four clean sheets and we had three clean sheets, so I think we are similar teams. Everything is possible in this game,” the Dutch coach stated.

“We believe in ourselves and we will be ready for this game. We played two teams from Iran already in this competition, so we are getting used to it. Iranian teams are always strong, we know that. It will be an exciting and strong game,” he added.

After the conclusion of four thrilling Round of 16 ties, OPTA, the AFC’s official data provider, have compiled their list of candidates for the Player of the Week.

Alekasir topped the OPTA rankings for this week as the striker scored the tie’s only goal as the Tehran giant eliminated home side Al-Sadd SC following a 1-0 win on Sunday.

The 30-year-old forward, who was also nominated for the Matchday Six Player of the Week award, netted for the second time in consecutive matches and he was a constant threat up front for the Iranian side with five shots on goal, two aerials won and two duels won for his 7.7 OPTA rating.