Australia's Central Coast Mariners can extend their fairy-tale season and send tremors through the AFC Champions League when they play host to Marcello Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande in the last 16 this week.

The recently crowned A-League champions scrambled into the knockout stages for the first time - despite being hammered 3-0 in their final group game - to earn a testing match-up with the Chinese double winners.

Graham Arnold's Mariners can now put a dent in the ambitions of the team led by Lippi, who masterminded Italy's 2006 World Cup win, in the first leg in Gosford on Wednesday. The return fixture is next week.