South Korea's Pohang regained their winning touch after a surprise loss to Adelaide United last week, with a dramatic last few minutes against Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Steelyard.

Pohang looked comfortable after skipper Hwang Jae-Won put them in front with a powerful header on 54 minutes but Sanfrecce defender Tomoaki Makino was brought down in the box with just one minute left.

Bulgarian defender Ilian Stoyanov stepped up to convert the penalty but Sanfrecce lost concentration and Pohang struck back in injury time when Brazilian forward Almir prodded home a rebound from a Kim Jae-Sung free kick.

In Osaka, 2008 champions Gamba were held by China's Henan Jianye, leaving them with just two points from two games after losing last week to Suwon Bluewings.

It was a disappointing effort from a team that was desperate to assert itself after losing in the J-League over the weekend.

Zhang Lu gave the visitors the lead after four minutes when he proved quickest to react after goalkeeper Atsushi Kimura failed to gather a shot from Senegalese forward Amado Dialo.

The scores were levelled when striker Lucas was hacked down in the penalty area, with the Brazilian dusting himself off to convert the spot kick 10 minutes before the break.

Gamba threw everything they had at Henan in the second half but the Chinese defense held solid.

The other match in the group saw Korea's Suwon Bluewings beat a 10-man Singapore Armed Forces 2-0, with superb goals from Brazilians Juninho and Jose Mota capping an accomplished display.

In Group H, Adelaide swept to an impressive 2-0 victory over Shandong Luneng in China with goals in each half from Sergio van Dijk and Matthew Leckie.

Dutchman Van Dijk opened the scoring on 28 minutes after getting on the end of a Lucas Pantelis cross at the back post to head home.

Leckie doubled their lead 20 minutes from the end when the youngster met Scott Jamieson's corner unchallenged with a flying header that bounced over the line.

It was the A-League side's second consecutive victory to leave them on top of their group.

Elsewhere, Saudi side Al-Hilal should beat Iran's Mes Kerman in Riyadh in Group D after Eric Gerets' side trounced Al-Sadd 3-0 in their opener last month.

Hilal, who secured the 2009-10 Saudi league title in January, are among the tournament favorites following a superb season under Gerets, who joined them last summer from French giants Marseille.

Al-Ahli, who are having a disappointing domestic season, host Al-Sadd in the group's other fixture.
 
Prandelli's future uncertain after Fiorentina exit

In Florence, Italy, Cesare Prandelli's future as Fiorentina coach looks increasingly uncertain following their Champions League exit on Tuesday, with Juventus and Italy regarded as his two most likely destinations.

Germany's Bayern Munich advanced to the quarterfinals on away goals after Fiorentina's 3-2 home win levelled the aggregate score at 4-4. The Italians were unfortunate to lose the first leg 2-1 as the winning goal was scored from an offside position.

Prandelli has long been touted in the media as a successor to Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who has yet to declare his intentions after June's World Cup, while Juve coach Alberto Zaccheroni's contract runs only until the end of the season.

"Prandelli is our coach. He is great, he has another year on his contract and if contracts are worth anything there won't be a problem," Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle told reporters.

However, the likelihood of Fiorentina being absent from the Champions League in the foreseeable future could lead Prandell, at Fiorentina since 2005, to assess his options.

While the Florence club have enjoyed a relatively successful European campaign, beating Liverpool twice in the group stage, they have slipped to 10th in Serie A.

Their defeat on Tuesday also raises the possibility of Italy losing their fourth Champions League qualifying spot to Germany from 2011 depending on results in the rest of the competition.

If Lippi steps down from Italy after South Africa, former Roma and Parma coach Prandelli looks one of the few candidates to take over given Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Mancini are in their first seasons at Chelsea and Manchester City.

Juve's Zaccheroni replaced the sacked Ciro Ferrara in January but the fans have failed to warm to the ex-Inter Milan, AC Milan and Torino coach despite a slight pick up in form.