The Uzbekistan champions have signed 11 new players - including five national team stars - and they will be looking to extend their supremacy over their middle-eastern hosts at the Al Nahyan Stadium.

The two clubs were drawn together last year as well, with Bunyodkor winning both legs – scoring six and conceding just two – but Kasimov was keeping his cool for their upcoming clash, given his side’s nascent state.

"After our domestic season ended in October this will be our first official match and we are looking forward to it," Kasimov said.

"We did have a few training camps and played an event in Russia and some matches in Turkey but all that was more of a team building exercise."

Though Bunyodkor advanced from the group in the previous campaign, Kasimov’s task has been made difficult this time, with Uzbekistan internationals Timur Kapadze and Anzur Ismailov along with skipper Server Djeparov and the Brazilian trio of Rivaldo, Denilson and Jao Victor missing from last year’s team.

However, with Serbian trio Milos Trifunovic, Slavoljub Djordjevic and Sasa Dordevic along with Kyrgyzstan’s Karim Izrailov and seven Uzbek players having joined their ranks, Kasimov felt it was only a matter of time before results did the talking.

"We do not have any stars but as a team I am expecting them to do well," he said.

"We just need to settle down and combine well."

Meanwhile the hosts are seeking a return to form as results on the domestic stage have meant confidence is low, with Al Wahda currently seventh in the Pro-League table with just two wins in their last seven matches .

But despite that run, the club’s Austrian coach Josef Hickesberger is not beyond competing on both fronts – domestic and Asian – with a full strength lineup.

He said: "Last year we only concentrated on the UAE League and rested most of our players during the ACL matches.

"But this year we want to do well in the ACL. We want to win much more points, finish in a better position and qualify for the next stage, which is our target.

"We are aware that we lost both our games to Bunyodkor last year but this year they are a different side.

On their own domestic run, the Al Wahda coach added: "I think my players did not concentrate, perhaps taking their (Pro-League) rivals lightly.

"But against Bunyodkor they will not make that mistake and they will be ready, mentally and physically, to take them on."