Estudiantes, winners of the old Intercontinental Cup in 1968 and finalists twice more, are the old hands going in the 11-day tournament and favourites to meet Barcelona in the final.
Africa's TP Mazembe, Asia's Pohang Steelers and Atlante of Mexico will be aiming to topple the giants from the two continents that have dominated world football.
"We know well that it's a fight like David against Goliath and we'd be very naive if we didn't realise that," said Atlante's experienced Argentine winger Santiago Solari speaking of a potential meeting with Barcelona.
Barcelona and Estudiantes have a bye into the semi-finals next week when the Argentine side will make their bow against Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo or South Korea's Steelers.
"Today you turn the TV on and see a Barcelona match, maybe the coach (Alejandro Sabella) will pay more attention, but it's not the same as analysing a team from Africa," Estudiantes captain Juan Sebastian Veron told Reuters in La Plata.
Carles Puyol, who was in the Barcelona side that lost the 2006 final to Internacional of Brazil, echoed that sentiment when he said: "They are teams less known to us, they're not Spanish or European, so for that reason we'll study them well."
The name Veron links Estudiantes' past winners with today's team. His father Juan Ramon was in the side that lifted the Intercontinental Cup against Manchester United in 1968.
It is United's crown the teams playing in Abu Dhabi will be vying for after Wayne Rooney's goal gave the English side a 1-0 win over Ecuador's LDU Quito in last year's final in Yokohama.
The region's financial clout could eventually help to propel one of its teams into the Club World Cup final where this month's winners will pocket $5 million.
