2009 AFC Champions League

2009 AFC Champions League

The National Stadium in Tokyo hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying: 18 – 25 February 2009 Competition proper: 10 March – 7 November 2009
Teams	Competition proper: 32 Total: 35 (from 13 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Pohang Steelers (3rd title)
Runners-up	Al-Ittihad
Tournament statistics
Matches played	111
Goals scored	329 (2.96 per match)
Attendance	1,396,226 (12,579 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Leandro (10 goals)
Best player(s)	No Byung-jun
Fair play award	Pohang Steelers [1]
← 2008 2010 →

The 2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo on 7 November 2009, with Pohang Steelers defeating Al-Ittihad and securing a record-breaking third title. As winners, Pohang Steelers, qualified as the AFC's representative at the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The Champions League featured a number of changes to its structure this season. Qualifying rounds were introduced, with both finalists of the previous years AFC Cup automatically earning a place in the qualifiers. The group stage was expanded from 28 to 32 teams. The first and second-placed teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage, which now included a Round of 16. The final was played as a single-legged tie at a neutral venue. The defending champions no longer received a bye to the knockout stage, nor did they automatically qualify for the tournament.

Each team was allowed to field a maximum of four foreign players this season, one of whom had to be from an AFC Member Association.

Gamba Osaka were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Kawasaki Frontale in the Round of 16.

Qualification

A total of 35 teams participated in the 2009 AFC Champions League. ^[2]

AFC assessment ranking

West Asia Pos Member Association Points (total 500) Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup 4 Saudi Arabia 365 12 4 0 0 5 UAE 356 12 3 1 0 7 Iran 340 18 4 0 0 9 Uzbekistan 289 16 2 0 1 10 Qatar 270 10 2 0 0 13 India 202 10 0 1 1 Meet the criteria Do not meet the criteria

East Asia Pos Member Association Points (total 500) Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup 1 Japan 470 18 4 0 0 2 Korea Republic 441 14 4 0 0 3 China PR 431 16 4 0 0 6 Australia 343 7+1† 2 0 0 8 Indonesia 296 18 1 1 0 11 Singapore 279 12 0 1 1 12 Thailand 221 16 0 1 1 14 Vietnam 191 14 0 0 2 † One of the A-League clubs, Wellington Phoenix, is based in New Zealand, an OFC member country, therefore not being eligible to compete in the ACL.

Allocation of entries

Below is the qualification scheme for the 2009 AFC Champions League:

Qualifying play-off: (5 teams)

• United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, India each have 1 team qualify

Group stage: (32 teams)

• 2 qualifying play-off entries
• 4 teams qualified: Japan, China, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia
• 3 teams qualified: United Arab Emirates
• 2 teams qualified: Australia, Uzbekistan, Qatar
• 1 team qualified: Indonesia

Teams

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. TH means title holders.

Entry round	Teams
	West Asia			East Asia
Group stage	Al-Hilal	2007–08 Saudi Premier League champions	5th (2007)	Gamba Osaka TH	2008 AFC Champions League champions 2008–09 Emperor's Cup winners	3rd (2008)
	Al-Shabab	2008 King Cup of Champions winners	4th (2007)	Kashima Antlers	2008 J. League Division 1 champions	3rd (2008)
	Al-Ittihad	2007–08 Saudi Premier League runners-up	5th (2008)	Kawasaki Frontale	2008 J. League Division 1 runners-up	2nd (2007)
	Al-Ettifaq	2007–08 Saudi Premier League fourth place	1st	Nagoya Grampus	2008 J. League Division 1 third place	1st
	Al-Shabab	2007–08 UAE Football League champions	1st	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2008 K-League champions	2nd (2005)
	Al-Ahli	2007–08 UAE President Cup winners	3rd (2005)	Pohang Steelers	2008 Korean FA Cup winners	2nd (2008)
	Al-Jazira	2007–08 UAE Football League runners-up	1st	FC Seoul	2008 K-League runners-up	1st
	Persepolis	2007–08 Persian Gulf Cup champions	2nd (2002–03)	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	2008 K-League third place	2nd (2006)
	Esteghlal	2007–08 Hazfi Cup winners	2nd (2002–03)	Shandong Luneng Taishan	2008 Chinese Super League champions	3rd (2007)
	Sepahan	2007–08 Persian Gulf Cup runners-up	5th (2008)	Shanghai Shenhua	2008 Chinese Super League runners-up	5th (2007)
	Saba Qom	2007–08 Persian Gulf Cup third place	2nd (2006)	Beijing Guoan	2008 Chinese Super League third place	2nd (2008)
	Bunyodkor	2008 Uzbek League champions 2008 Uzbekistan Cup winners	2nd (2008)	Tianjin Teda	2008 Chinese Super League fourth place	1st
	Pakhtakor	2008 Uzbek League runners-up	7th (2008)	Central Coast Mariners	2007–08 A-League premiers	1st
	Al-Gharafa	2007–08 Qatar Stars League champions	4th (2008)	Newcastle United Jets	2008 A-League Grand Final winners	1st
	Umm-Salal	2008 Emir of Qatar Cup winners	1st	Sriwijaya	2007–08 Liga Indonesia Premier Division champions	1st
Qualifying play-off	Sharjah	2007–08 UAE Football League fourth place	2nd (2004)	PSMS Medan	2007–08 Liga Indonesia Premier Division runners-up	1st
	Dempo	2007–08 I-League champions	1st	Singapore Armed Forces	2008 S.League champions	1st
	Muharraq	2008 AFC Cup winners [Note AFC]	1st	PEA	2008 Thailand Premier League champions	1st
	Safa	2008 AFC Cup runners-up [Note AFC]	1st	Bình Dương	2008 V-League champions [Note AFC]	2nd (2008)

Notes.

1. ^
   AFC Criteria (AFC): Clubs that had initially qualified for qualifying play-off, but were removed and demoted to the 2009 AFC Cup as their respective leagues did not meet the AFC's Champions League criteria.

Schedule

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying play-off	Preliminary round	18 December 2008	18 February 2009
	Play-off round		25 February 2009
Group stage	Matchday 1	7 January 2009	10–11 March 2009
	Matchday 2		17–18 March 2009
	Matchday 3		7–8 April 2009
	Matchday 4		21–22 April 2009
	Matchday 5		5–6 May 2009
	Matchday 6		19–20 May 2009
Knockout stage	Round of 16 [a]	No draw [b]	27 May [c] and 24 June [d] 2009
	Quarter-finals	29 June 2009	23–24 September 2009	30 September 2009
	Semi-finals		21 October 2009	28 October 2009
	Final		7 November 2009 at National Stadium, Tokyo

Notes

1. Two-legged ties
2. Pre-determined format
3. West Asia
4. East Asia

Qualifying play-off

Main article: 2009 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off

Preliminary round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
East Zone
PEA	1–4 (aet)	Singapore Armed Forces

Play-off round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
East Zone
Singapore Armed Forces	2–1 (aet)	PSMS Medan
West Zone
Sharjah	3–0	Dempo

Group stage

Main article: 2009 AFC Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 7 January 2009 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Each club played double round-robin (home and away) against fellow three group members, a total of 6 matches each. Each team had been numbered from 1 to 4, the numbers determine the order of the fixtures.

• Match Day 1: 1 vs 4, 3 vs 2
• Match Day 2: 2 vs 1, 4 vs 3
• Match Day 3: 1 vs 3, 4 vs 2
• Match Day 4: 3 vs 1, 2 vs 4
• Match Day 5: 4 vs 1, 2 vs 3
• Match Day 6: 1 vs 2, 3 vs 4

Clubs receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:

1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned; (Away goals do not apply)
3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; (Away goals do not apply)
4. Goal difference in all the group matches;
5. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
6. Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
7. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches; (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
8. Drawing of lots.

Winners and runners-up of each group qualified for the next round.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HIL	PAK	SAB	AHL
1	Al-Hilal	6	4	2	0	10	4	+6	14	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–0	1–1	2–1
2	Pakhtakor	6	4	1	1	9	5	+4	13			1–1	—	2–1	2–0
3	Saba Qom	6	1	2	3	7	9	−2	5			0–1	1–2	—	0–0
4	Al-Ahli	6	0	1	5	6	14	−8	1			1–3	0–2	3–5	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		PRS	SHB	GHA	SHA
1	Persepolis	4	2	1	1	5	6	−1	7	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	3–1	3–1
2	Al-Shabab	4	2	1	1	4	2	+2	7			0–0	—	1–0	5–0
3	Al-Gharafa	4	1	0	3	7	8	−1	3			5–1	1–3	—
4	Sharjah [a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Withdrew [b]			1–3	0–2	—

Source: WorldFootball.net
Notes:

1. Sharjah were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player Abdelaziz Mohamed Al Mazam during the team’s AFC Champions League match against Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia on 8.4.09. Thus, Al Sharjah were fined USD 4000 and the match was awarded to Al Shabab 3-0. ^[3]
2. Sharjah withdrew from the competition with two games remaining. Their results were expunged. ^[4]

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ITT	UMS	JAZ	EST
1	Al-Ittihad	6	3	3	0	14	4	+10	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	7–0	1–1	2–1
2	Umm-Salal	6	2	2	2	6	13	−7	8			1–3	—	2–2	1–0
3	Al-Jazira	6	0	5	1	6	7	−1	5			0–0	0–1	—	2–2
4	Esteghlal	6	0	4	2	6	8	−2	4			1–1	1–1	1–1	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ETT	BUN	SEP	SHB
1	Al-Ettifaq	6	4	0	2	15	8	+7	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	4–0	2–1	4–1
2	Bunyodkor	6	2	2	2	5	9	−4	8			2–1	—	2–2	0–0
3	Sepahan	6	2	1	3	9	7	+2	7			3–0	0–1	—	2–0
4	Al-Shabab	6	2	1	3	6	11	−5	7			1–4	2–0	2–1	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NAG	NEW	ULS	BEI
1	Nagoya Grampus	6	3	3	0	10	4	+6	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	4–1	0–0
2	Newcastle Jets	6	3	1	2	6	5	+1	10			0–1	—	2–0	2–1
3	Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i	6	2	0	4	4	10	−6	6			1–3	0–1	—	1–0
4	Beijing Guoan	6	1	2	3	4	5	−1	5			1–1	2–0	0–1	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		OSA	SEO	SHA	SRI
1	Gamba Osaka	6	5	0	1	17	4	+13	15	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–2	3–0	5–0
2	FC Seoul	6	3	1	2	14	11	+3	10			2–4	—	1–1	5–1
3	Shandong Luneng	6	2	1	3	10	9	+1	7			0–1	2–0	—	5–0
4	Sriwijaya	6	1	0	5	7	24	−17	3			0–3	2–4	4–2	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KAS	SUW	SHA	SAF
1	Kashima Antlers	6	4	1	1	16	6	+10	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	3–0	2–0	5–0
2	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	4	0	2	12	8	+4	12			4–1	—	2–1	3–1
3	Shanghai Shenhua	6	2	2	2	9	8	+1	8			1–1	2–1	—	4–1
4	Singapore Armed Forces	6	0	1	5	4	19	−15	1			1–4	0–2	1–1	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		POH	KAW	TIA	CCM
1	Pohang Steelers	6	3	3	0	7	3	+4	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	1–0	3–2
2	Kawasaki Frontale	6	3	1	2	10	7	+3	10			0–2	—	1–0	2–1
3	Tianjin Teda	6	2	2	2	6	5	+1	8			0–0	3–1	—	2–2
4	Central Coast Mariners	6	0	2	4	5	13	−8	2			0–0	0–5	0–1	—

Source: WorldFootball.net

Knockout stage

Main article: 2009 AFC Champions League knockout stage

Bracket

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Al-Ettifaq	1
	Pakhtakor	2
					Pakhtakor	1	0	1
					Al-Ittihad	1	4	5
	Al-Ittihad	2
	Al-Shabab	1
											Al-Ittihad	6	2	8
											Nagoya Grampus	2	1	3
	Gamba Osaka	2
	Kawasaki Frontale	3
					Kawasaki Frontale	2	1	3
					Nagoya Grampus	1	3	4
	Nagoya Grampus	2
	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1
																	Al-Ittihad	1
																	Pohang Steelers	2
	Persepolis	0
	Bunyodkor	1
					Bunyodkor	3	1	4
					Pohang Steelers (aet)	1	4	5
	Pohang Steelers	6
	Newcastle Jets	0
											Pohang Steelers	2	2	4
											Umm-Salal	0	1	1
	Al-Hilal	0 (3)
	Umm-Salal (p)	0 (4)
					Umm-Salal	3	1	4
					FC Seoul	2	1	3
	Kashima Antlers	2 (4)
	FC Seoul (p)	2 (5)

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 of the 2009 AFC Champions League was held on 7 January 2009, along with the draw for the group stage. The West Asian matches were played on 26 and 27 May. The East Asian matches were played on 24 June.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Al-Hilal	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Umm-Salal
Persepolis	0–1	Bunyodkor
Al-Ittihad	2–1	Al-Shabab
Al-Ettifaq	1–2	Pakhtakor
East Zone
Nagoya Grampus	2–1	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Gamba Osaka	2–3	Kawasaki Frontale
Kashima Antlers	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	FC Seoul
Pohang Steelers	6–0	Newcastle Jets

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals and the remaining knockout rounds took place at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 29 June 2009. The first leg matches were played on 23–24 September, with the second leg matches were played on 30 September.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Umm-Salal	4–3	FC Seoul	3–2	1–1
Kawasaki Frontale	3–4	Nagoya Grampus	2–1	1–3
Pakhtakor	1–5	Al-Ittihad	1–1	0–4
Bunyodkor	4–5	Pohang Steelers	3–1	1–4 (a.e.t.)

Semi-finals

The first leg matches were played on 21 October, with the second leg matches were played on 28 October 2009.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Ittihad	8–3	Nagoya Grampus	6–2	2–1
Pohang Steelers	4–1	Umm-Salal	2–0	2–1

Final

Main article: 2009 AFC Champions League Final

The 2009 AFC Champions League Final was played on 7 November at National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan.

7 November 2009

19:00 (JST)

Al-Ittihad	1–2	Pohang Steelers
Noor 74'	Report	No Byung-jun 57' Kim Hyung-il 66'

National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 25,743

Referee: Matthew Breeze (Australia)

Top scorers

Note: Goals scored in qualifying round not counted.

Rank	Player	Club	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	R16	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F	Total
1	Leandro	Gamba Osaka	1	3	2	1	1		2						10
2	Prince Tagoe	Al-Ettifaq			2	3	2		1						8
3	Denilson	Pohang Steelers					3	1	1		2				7
4	Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Shabab	1		1	3	1								6
5	Mohammed Noor	Al-Ittihad									1	3		1	5
	Yoshizumi Ogawa	Nagoya Grampus				1	2		1		1				5
	Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Ittihad	1	1			1		1		1				5
	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul					3	1			1				5
	Renatinho	Kawasaki Frontale	1		1	1	1		1						5
	Zaynitdin Tadjiyev	Pakhtakor	1	1	1		1		1						5
	Araújo	Al-Gharafa	1	1		3									5

See also

• 2009 AFC Cup
• 2009 AFC President's Cup
• 2009 FIFA Club World Cup

References

1. "Triple treat for Steelers". AFC. Asian Football Confederation. 7 November 2009. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
2. "2009 ACL draw – thrilling match-ups". AFC. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 7 January 2009.^{[ dead link ]}
3. Sharjah found guilty of fielding an ineligible player
4. "Sharjah SC withdraw from ACL". AFC. 4 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009. Retrieved 6 May 2009.

External links

• AFC Champions League Official Page (in English)