Al Hilal suffer shock defeat in AFC Champions League while Al Ahli prevail in Doha

Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor register impressive 1-0 win over SPL giants in first leg of last-16

Al Hilal suffered their first defeat in this season's Asian Champions League Elite Getty Images

Saudi Pro League giants Al Hilal suffered a shock first defeat in this season's AFC Champions League Elite as they lost 1-0 to Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor in the first leg of their last-16 clash on Tuesday.

Record four-time winners Al Hilal had qualified for the knockout stage as the top team in the west division, registering seven victories and a draw from their eight group matches.

However, the Riyadh side were outplayed by hosts Pakhtakor in freezing conditions in Tashkent.

The Uzbek side, who sealed a place in the last 16 in the final round of group games, took the lead at JAR Stadium just before the half-hour mark when Brazilian Flamarion finished past Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.

Al Hilal tried valiantly but could not find a way through. They missed the services of Serbian international Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has been missing through injury since the first week of January.

Al Hilal now have it all to do as they look to overturn the deficit when the two teams meet in Riyadh in seven days' time.

After the win, Pakhtakor manager Pedro Moreira lauded his players for standing up to the challenge posed by one of the strongest teams in Asia.

"It was a difficult match. We played a well-organised game against a very strong team. Al Hilal were expected to have more possession than us," Moreira said.

"We focused on organising the game properly. We focused more on defence and tried to keep the opponent in the empty zones. We played a fantastic first 30 minutes. Now we have the match in Riyadh. The away match will definitely be even more difficult than today," he added.

There were no such troubles for Al Hilal's fellow Saudi side Al Ahli, who defeated Al Rayyan 3-1 in Qatar after goals from Galeno, Riyad Mahrez and Firas Al Buraikan.

With the in-form Ivan Toney leading the charge, the Jeddah club struck twice in the first four minutes at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.

Captain Roberto Firmino eased past his marker on the right before floating a cross for Galeno to head home in the 30th minute.

Firmino, aiming to add the Asian crown to the Uefa Champions League title he won with Liverpool, was in the thick of things again.

This time, the Brazilian rolled an indirect free-kick inside the Al Rayyan penalty area before Mahrez curled high into the hosts' goal.

The former Manchester City winger now has netted six times and provided seven assists in this season's competition.

Al Rayyan did pull a goal back 19 minutes from time when Roger Guedes scored from a superb right-footed strike. He also rattled the crossbar in injury time.

Al Ahli regained a two-goal lead moments later via Al Buraikan's close-range finish.

Al Rayyan were then reduced to 10 men when Adam Bareiro was shown a red card following a VAR review.

The competition's final stages will be a centralised format staged in Jeddah, with the quarter-finals on April 25 and 26. The semis are set for April 29 and 30 with the final on May 3.