Shandong Luneng players celebrate a goal during last season's AFC Champions League qualifiers. (Photo : Getty Images)
The 2016 Asian Football Confederation Champions League qualifying playoffs are set to happen next week and Chinese Super League giants Shandong Luneng Taishan FC and Shanghai SIPG FC are waiting for their opponents in the said knockout phase.
Shandong and Shanghai, the CSL's third and second placers during last season's competitions, have qualified for the AFC Champions League's Preliminary Round 2 and Playoff Round respectively due to their top three finishes in the China top flight.
By placing third in the 2015 CSL season, Shandong is waiting for the Preliminary Round 1 winner between Mohun Bagan AC of India's I-League and Tampines Rovers FC of Singapore's S.League, as per Xinhuanet.
The match will be held on Feb. 2 at the Jinan Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province in eastern China.
Other Preliminary Round 2 matches are Vietnam's Hà Nội T&T FC versus Hong Kong's Kitchee SC, Thailand's Chonburi FC versus Myanmar's Yangon United FC, and Thailand's Muangthong United FC versus Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim FC.
Meanwhile, after their runner-up finish in the 2015 CSL, Shanghai qualified outright to the Playoff Round where they are waiting for the Preliminary Round 2 winner between Muangthong United and Johor Darul Ta'zim, via Shanghai Daily.
The match will be held on Feb. 9 at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai.
Other East Zone Playoff Round matches are South Korea's Pohang Steelers versus the winner between Hà Nội T&T and Kitchee, Japan's FC Tokyo versus the winner between Chonburi and Yangon United, and Australia's Adelaide United versus the winner between Shandong Luneng and its opponent.
Each game in the qualifying playoffs are single matches that are decided with extra time and penalty shootout if necessary. The winners of each fixture in the Playoff Round will join the top 24 automatic qualifiers in the tournament's Group Stage which are set to begin on Feb. 23.
