AFC Champions League: Wins for Al Wasl and Al Hilal as Al Nassr sack Castro

Soufiane Bouftini's second-half header enough to see Wasl take all three points against Pakhtakor

Al Hilal's Joao Cancelo, right, in action with Al Rayyan's Hazem Shehata. Reuters

Al Wasl and Al Hilal, champions of the UAE and Saudi Arabia respectively, both recorded away wins to get their campaigns in the revamped Asian Champions League up and running.

Dubai-based Wasl won 1-0 at Uzbekistan's Pakhtakor thanks to Soufiane Bouftini's second-half header while Riyadh giants Hilal cruised to a 3-1 win over Al Rayyan of Qatar.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic powered through the penalty area to meet Malcom's cross in the 15th minute with a firm header that gave Al Hilal the lead.

Two goals in two minutes at the end of the half put the Saudi side in control, Joao Cancelo latching onto Malcom's through pass to thump his shot home in the 42nd minute to double the lead.

Cancelo turned provider in the 44th minute, the Portuguese full-back setting up Marcos Leonardo to score from the edge of the six-yard box.

Al Hilal could have won by a larger margin, but Aleksandar Mitrovic saw his 71st-minute penalty saved by Paulo Victor while Malcom also hit the post for the Saudi Pro League champions.

The wins for Al Hilal and Al Wasl see them join Iran's Esteghlal and Al Ahli of Saudi Arabia as the only teams to pick up three points from their opening game in the league phase in West Asia.

Twelve clubs from the eastern and western halves of the continent will play eight games using the Swiss League format in the opening phase of the competition, with the top eight sides on each side of the draw advancing to the knockout rounds.

The last 16 will be played in March with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final, which will be held on May 4, all due to be played on a centralised basis in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Saudi giants Al Nassr, who opened their Champions League campaign on Monday with a 1-1 draw at Al Shorta, announced Tuesday the departure of coach Luis Castro following a disappointing start to the campaign.

Nassr have drawn two of their first three Saudi Pro League games, with Monday's match in Iraq Castro's last game in charge having replaced Rudi Garcia in the hot seat in July 2023.

As the 63-year-old Portuguese exited the club, talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed the Al Shorta match due to illness, sent out a farewell message for his countryman.

Ronaldo took to Instagram to share a photograph of himself with Castro as he wrote, "Thank you for everything."

Former AC Milan boss Stefano Piolo is reported to be the frontrunner to replace Castro having left the Italian giants in the summer.