play under Croatian coach Branko Ivanković. In his debut match in the league, he scored his first goal against Foolad Khuzestan. He scored his second goal for Persepolis in the 2017 AFC Champions League quarter-finals match against Al Ahli. Persepolis reached the semi-final for the first time in its history before FIFA imposed sanctions on the team's top scorer and the club. In his first season with the red half of Tehran, Pirouzi, Khalilzadeh played 41 games and scored five goals. The following year was the most successful in Persepolis history against all odds, the Reds finished runner-up in the 2018 AFC Champions League. Khalilzadeh was selected in two squads "Team of the Season" for his performance in the tournament. Persepolis was scoreless with Al Ahli on Matchday Three 2019 AFC Champions League, when Khalilzadeh showed superb agility to adjust his body and acrobatically bicycle kick home the opening goal, which was named as the best goal of the 2019 AFC Champions League by the fans. He scored two goals in the competition but his team were eliminated of the group stage. In the 2020 AFC Champions League, the last tournament before increasing the number of clubs to 40 teams, Khalilzadeh’s goal in the final minutes of the Al Taawoun match was a leap for the team after a faltering start in the tournament. In the Round of 16 against Al-Sadd, the role and interventions of Khalilzadeh in the game were more influential, before Persepolis scored the winning goal in the 89th minute. He was also "Player of the Week" at the AFC Champions League semi-final following his performance in his last match with the team against Al Nassr and help Persepolis to reach the final, where the east champion was determined on 13 December. Khalilzadeh played a great role in winning three titles in the Iran Pro League and helped Persepolis to reach AFC Champions League final twice in three years. Since 2018, Khalilzadeh has been linked with a move to the Qatar Stars League and the Chinese Super League. At the age of 31, before the start of the 2020–21 season, after not reaching an agreement to renew his contract, he moved to Qatar. Khalilzadeh was reportedly chosen as one of the candidates for the 2020 Asian Footballer of the Year award before the award was confirmed to be cancelled in late December. Al-Rayyan On 25 October 2020,