Melbourne City will play Thailand champions Buriram United in the Asian Champions League Elite round -of-16 after being held to a 0-0 draw by K League 1 club Gangwon FC in their last group game.
City had already qualified for the round of 16 after beating another South Korean side Ulsan HD away last week to seal their spot inside the top-eight of the east region.
Aurelio Vidmar's charges will now play a two-legged round-of-16 tie in early March against Buriram, where former City defensive stalwart Curtis Good plays and ex-Central Coast boss Mark Jackson is manager.
City beat Buriram 2-1 at AAMI Park in October, Jackson's first game with the Thai League 1 club, courtesy of a late winner from Max Caputo that kickstarted their ACL Elite campaign.
Tuesday's scoreless draw meant City finished fifth in Group A, behind fourth-placed Buriram, and they will therefore host the first leg before travelling for the second.
"It was a great achievement for us to finish in the top-eight. Fifth is excellent," Vidmar said.
"I thought tonight we probably had the better chances to finish off the game. Overall, I was quite pleased.
"Buriram are always a difficult opponent, especially over there.
"Even tonight was a really good test for us against a good team to keep in the game, and especially over two legs I think that's going to be important."
From the quarter-finals onwards, teams from the east and west regions can play each other.
The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be held in a central hub in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in mid-April.
Having already reached the round of 16 - pocketing a prize of USD $200,000 (AUD $283,000) - City rested some players, including in-form young gun Marcus Younis and defender Nathaniel Atkinson.
Chances were rare in front of a sparse crowd at AAMI Park.
In the 18th minute, Gangwon's Kang Yun-gu dragged a shot wide.
City attacking midfielder Alessandro Lopane forced Gangwon goalkeeper Park Chung-hyo into a diving save in the 42nd minute.
Young gun Medin Memeti should have made it 1-0 in the 45th minute when he was released one-on-one with Park, but shot straight at the goalkeeper.
The second half offered little more, bar some reckless challenges from both teams.
Gangwon had a nervy few minutes waiting for Tuesday's other game between Kevin Muscat's last-placed Shanghai Port and Ulsan, which also finished 0-0.
Gangwon snuck into eighth place on goals for ahead of former winners Ulsan, earning a two-legged tie with group winners Machida Zelvia.
Gangwon, just 18 years old, reach the knockouts for the first time in their maiden ACL Elite campaign, to the delight of coach Chung Kyung-ho, who was an inaugural player at the club.
"Achieving this objective of the round of 16 is a huge, massive milestone for the club," Chung, a former South Korea international, said via an interpreter.
