2017 AFC Champions League

2017 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	24 January – 25 November 2017
Teams	47 (from 19 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	127
Goals scored	391 (3.08 per match)
Attendance	1,558,327 (12,270 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Omar Abdulrahman (7 goals)

The 2017 AFC Champions League is the 36th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 15th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The winners of the 2017 AFC Champions League will qualify as the AFC representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.^[1] If a team from the United Arab Emirates wins the AFC Champions League, the runners-up will also qualify (in place of the winners of the 2016–17 UAE Pro-League).

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are the defending champions, but they were excluded from the 2017 season due to a bribery scandal in the domestic K League Classic.^[2] Jeonbuk appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,^[3] but their request for provisional measures was rejected on 3 February.^[4]

Association team allocation

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,^[5] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.^[6] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2017 and 2018 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2016 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.2):^[7]

• The associations are split into two regions:
  • West Region consists of the associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), and the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
  • East Region consists of the associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
• In each region, there are four groups in the group stage, including a total of 12 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
• The top 12 associations in each region as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
• The top six associations in each region get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
  • The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each gets three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
  • The associations ranked 3rd gets two direct slots and two play-off slots (both in play-off round).
  • The associations ranked 4th gets two direct slots and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 5th gets one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 6th gets one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 7th to 12th each gets one play-off slot (in preliminary round 1).
• The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division.
• If any association gives up its direct slots, they are redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of three direct slots.
• If any association gives up its play-off slots, they are annulled and not redistributed to any other association.

For the 2017 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016,^[8] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2013 and 2016.^[7][9]

The slot allocation was announced on 7 December 2016, with India and Maldives returning to the West Region.^[10] The final slot allocation, after unused slots were redistributed, was announced on 12 December 2016.^[11][12]

Participation for 2017 AFC Champions League[13]
	Participating
	Not participating

Notes

Teams

The following 47 teams from 19 associations entered the competition.^[11]

In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count only those since the 2002–03 season (including qualifying rounds), when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.

Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows.^[24] Starting from 2017, matches in the West Region will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.^[25]

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary stage	Preliminary round 1	No draw	24 January 2017
	Preliminary round 2		25 & 31 January 2017
Play-off stage	Play-off round		7–8 February 2017
Group stage	Matchday 1	13 December 2016 (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)[10]	20–22 February 2017
	Matchday 2		27 February – 1 March 2017
	Matchday 3		13–15 March 2017
	Matchday 4		10–12 April 2017
	Matchday 5		24–26 April 2017
	Matchday 6		8–10 May 2017
Knockout stage	Round of 16		22–24 May 2017	29–31 May 2017
	Quarter-finals	6 June 2017 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)[26]	21–23 August 2017	11–13 September 2017
	Semi-finals		26–27 September 2017	17–18 October 2017
	Final		18 November 2017	25 November 2017

Qualifying play-offs

In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.2). The eight winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round which are from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.^[1] The bracket of the qualifying play-offs was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same play-off.^[12]

Preliminary round 1

Team 1	Score	Team 2
East Region
Global	2–0	Tampines Rovers

Preliminary round 2

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Region
Al-Wehdat	2–1	Bengaluru FC
Nasaf Qarshi	4–0	Al-Hidd
East Region
Kitchee	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Hà Nội
Bangkok United	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Johor Darul Ta'zim
Sukhothai	5–0	Yadanarbon
Brisbane Roar	6–0	Global

Play-off round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Region
Al-Wahda	3–0	Al-Wehdat
Al-Fateh	1–0	Nasaf Qarshi
Esteghlal	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Al-Sadd
El Jaish	0–0 (a.e.t.) (1–3 p)	Bunyodkor
East Region
Ulsan Hyundai	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Kitchee
Gamba Osaka	3–0	Johor Darul Ta'zim
Shanghai SIPG	3–0	Sukhothai
Shanghai Shenhua	0–2	Brisbane Roar

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 13 December 2016, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Hilton Petaling Jaya in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.^[11][27][28] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.^[12] In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage.

Tiebreakers

The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5):[1] Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group; Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points); Team from the higher-ranked association.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHL	EST	TAA	LOK
1	Al-Ahli	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	11	Round of 16		—	2–1	0–0	4–0
2	Esteghlal	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	11			1–1	—	3–0	2–0
3	Al-Taawoun	6	1	2	3	7	12	−5	5			1–3	1–2	—	1–0
4	Lokomotiv Tashkent	6	1	2	3	7	12	−5	5			2–0	1–1	4–4	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEK	ESK	FAT	JAZ
1	Lekhwiya	6	4	2	0	15	6	+9	14	Round of 16		—	2–1	4–1	3–0
2	Esteghlal Khuzestan	6	2	3	1	6	5	+1	9			1–1	—	1–0	1–1
3	Al-Fateh	6	1	3	2	7	9	−2	6			2–2	1–1	—	3–1
4	Al-Jazira	6	0	2	4	3	11	−8	2			1–3	0–1	0–0	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AIN	AHL	ZOB	BUN
1	Al-Ain	6	3	3	0	14	7	+7	12	Round of 16		—	2–2	1–1	3–0
2	Al-Ahli	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11			2–2	—	2–0	2–0
3	Zob Ahan	6	2	1	3	6	9	−3	7			0–3	1–2	—	2–1
4	Bunyodkor	6	1	0	5	5	12	−7	3			2–3	2–0	0–2	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HIL	PER	RAY	WAH
1	Al-Hilal	6	3	3	0	10	7	+3	12	Round of 16		—	0–0	2–1	1–0
2	Persepolis	6	2	3	1	9	8	+1	9			1–1	—	0–0	4–2
3	Al-Rayyan	6	2	1	3	10	13	−3	7			3–4	3–1	—	2–1
4	Al-Wahda	6	1	1	4	12	13	−1	4			2–2	2–3	5–1	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KSA	MUA	ULS	BRI
1	Kashima Antlers	6	4	0	2	13	5	+8	12	Round of 16		—	2–1	2–0	3–0
2	Muangthong United	6	3	2	1	7	3	+4	11			2–1	—	1–0	3–0
3	Ulsan Hyundai	6	2	1	3	9	9	0	7			0–4	0–0	—	6–0
4	Brisbane Roar	6	1	1	4	4	16	−12	4			2–1	0–0	2–3	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		URA	SSI	SEO	WSW
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	4	0	2	18	7	+11	12	Round of 16		—	1–0	5–2	6–1
2	Shanghai SIPG	6	4	0	2	15	9	+6	12			3–2	—	4–2	5–1
3	FC Seoul	6	2	0	4	10	15	−5	6			1–0	0–1	—	2–3
4	Western Sydney Wanderers	6	2	0	4	10	22	−12	6			0–4	3–2	2–3	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KAW	GZE	SSB	EAS
1	Kawasaki Frontale	6	2	4	0	8	3	+5	10	Round of 16		—	0–0	1–1	4–0
2	Guangzhou Evergrande	6	2	4	0	18	5	+13	10			1–1	—	2–2	7–0
3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	2	3	1	11	6	+5	9			0–1	2–2	—	5–0
4	Eastern	6	0	1	5	1	24	−23	1			1–1	0–6	0–1	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JIA	JEJ	ADE	GAM
1	Jiangsu Suning	6	5	0	1	9	3	+6	15	Round of 16		—	1–2	2–1	3–0
2	Jeju United	6	3	1	2	12	9	+3	10			0–1	—	1–3	2–0
3	Adelaide United	6	1	2	3	10	13	−3	5			0–1	3–3	—	0–3
4	Gamba Osaka	6	1	1	4	7	13	−6	4			0–1	1–4	3–3	—

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams play a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 11.3).^[1]

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 6 June 2017, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^{[12][26][29][30]}

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Esteghlal	1	1	2
	Al-Ain	0	6	6
							Al-Ain
							Al-Hilal
	Esteghlal Khuzestan	1	1	2
	Al-Hilal	2	2	4
													Winner QF1
												Winner QF2
	Persepolis	0	1	1
	Lekhwiya	0	0	0
							Persepolis
							Al-Ahli
	Al-Ahli	1	3	4
	Al-Ahli	1	1	2
																		Winner SF1
																			Winner SF2
	Shanghai SIPG	2	3	5
	Jiangsu Suning	1	2	3
							Shanghai SIPG
							Guangzhou Evergrande
	Guangzhou Evergrande (a)	1	1	2
	Kashima Antlers	0	2	2
													Winner QF3
												Winner QF4
	Muangthong United	1	1	2
	Kawasaki Frontale	3	4	7
							Kawasaki Frontale
							Urawa Red Diamonds
	Jeju United	2	0	2
	Urawa Red Diamonds (a.e.t.)	0	3	3

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same region, with the group winners hosting the second leg.^[12]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Region
Esteghlal	2–6	Al-Ain	1–0	1–6
Al-Ahli	4–2	Al-Ahli	1–1	3–1
Esteghlal Khuzestan	2–4	Al-Hilal	1–2	1–2
Persepolis	1–0	Lekhwiya	0–0	1–0
East Region
Muangthong United	2–7	Kawasaki Frontale	1–3	1–4
Guangzhou Evergrande	2–2 (a)	Kashima Antlers	1–0	1–2
Shanghai SIPG	5–3	Jiangsu Suning	2–1	3–2
Jeju United	2–3	Urawa Red Diamonds	2–0	0–3 (a.e.t.)

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 6 June 2017. In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Region play in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without seeding or country protection.^[26][29][30]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Region
Al-Ain	QF1	Al-Hilal	21 Aug	11 Sep
Persepolis	QF2	Al-Ahli	22 Aug	12 Sep
East Region
Shanghai SIPG	QF3	Guangzhou Evergrande	22 Aug	12 Sep
Kawasaki Frontale	QF4	Urawa Red Diamonds	23 Aug	13 Sep

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Region play each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Region play each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.^[26]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Region
Winner QF1	SF1	Winner QF2	26 Sep	17 Oct
East Region
Winner QF3	SF2	Winner QF4	27 Sep	18 Oct

Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs reversed from the previous season's final, with the team from the West Region hosting the first leg, and the team from the East Region hosting the second leg.^[26]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Winner SF1	–	Winner SF2	18 Nov	25 Nov

Top scorers

As of 31 May 2017

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.

Note: Players in bold still active in competition.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	2R1	2R2	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Omar Abdulrahman	Al-Ain		2		1	1	1		2							7
2	Hulk	Shanghai SIPG	1	1	1		1		1	1							6
	Kaveh Rezaei	Esteghlal		1		1	1	1	1	1
	Mehdi Taremi	Persepolis		2	1			3
4	Alan	Guangzhou Evergrande	1	1	1		2										5
	Marat Bikmaev	Lokomotiv Tashkent		1		1	3
	Paulinho	Guangzhou Evergrande	1				2		1	1
	Rafael Silva	Urawa Red Diamonds	1		1	1	2
	Teerasil Dangda	Muangthong United				1	1	1	1	1
10	Omar Al Somah	Al-Ahli	1	1		2											4
	Carlos Eduardo	Al-Hilal	1	1		1			1
	Makhete Diop	Al-Ahli	2			2
	Elkeson	Shanghai SIPG		1	1			1		1
	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou Evergrande	1	1				2
	Johnathan	Suwon Samsung Bluewings		1	1	2
	Mu Kanazaki	Kashima Antlers	1				2			1
	Omar Kharbin	Al-Hilal			1			2		1
	Yu Kobayashi	Kawasaki Frontale	1		1				1	1
	Tadanari Lee	Urawa Red Diamonds	1	1			1			1
	Nam Tae-hee	Lekhwiya		1		1	2
	Ramires	Jiangsu Suning	1		1	1	1
	Yuma Suzuki	Kashima Antlers	1		1			2
	Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan		1	2			1

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-offs are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4).^[1]

Source: AFC^[31]

Player awards

Matchday	Toyota Player of the Week
	Player	Team
Group stage
Matchday 1[32]	Youssef El-Arabi	Lekhwiya
Matchday 2[33]	Kim In-sung	Ulsan Hyundai
Matchday 3[34]	Yun Il-lok	FC Seoul
Matchday 4[35]	Ko Seung-beom	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Matchday 5[36]	Khalid Eisa	Al-Ain
Matchday 6[37]	Nicolás Milesi	Al-Hilal
Knockout stage
Round of 16 1st leg[38]	Teerasil Dangda	Muangthong United
Round of 16 2nd leg[39]	Omar Abdulrahman	Al-Ain

See also

• 2017 AFC Cup
• 2017 FIFA Club World Cup

References

External links

• AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com