2015 AFC Champions League

Last updated
2015 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates4 February – 21 November 2015
Teams49 (from 21 associations)
Final positions
Champions Guangzhou Evergrande (2nd title)
Runners-up Al-Ahli
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored334 (2.65 per match)
Attendance2,123,583 (16,854 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ricardo Goulart (8 goals)
Best player(s) Ricardo Goulart
2014
2016

The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title.

Contents

Guangzhou Evergrande won the tournament after defeating Al-Ahli in the final. Guangzhou also qualified for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup. [1]

Western Sydney Wanderers were the defending champions, but they were eliminated in the group stage.

Association team allocation

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014, [2] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. [3] The member associations 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 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings: [4]

The AFC Competitions Committee finalised the slot allocation for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC Champions League based on the criteria, including AFC's MA rankings and the implementation of club licensing regulations, on 28 November 2014. [5] [6] [7]

Participation for 2015 AFC Champions League [6]
Fulfills participation criteria
Does not fulfill participation criteria
Notes
  1. ^ a b c
    Iraq (2 play-off slots), Lebanon and Syria (1 play-off slot each) were allocated slots for the 2015 and 2016 AFC Champions League, but were not allowed to participate in the 2015 AFC Champions League as none of their teams passed the club licensing requirements for 2015.

Teams

The following 49 teams from 21 associations entered the competition. [8]

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.

Notes
  1. ^
    Vietnam (VIE): Hà Nội T&T entered the AFC Champions League instead of Hải Phòng, the 2014 Vietnamese Cup winners, as Hải Phòng did not pass the club licensing requirements. [9]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia). [10]

StageRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond leg
Preliminary stagePreliminary round 1No draw4 February 2015
Preliminary round 210 February 2015
Play-off stagePlay-off round17 February 2015
Group stageMatchday 111 December 2014 [11] 24–25 February 2015
Matchday 23–4 March 2015
Matchday 317–18 March 2015
Matchday 47–8 April 2015
Matchday 521–22 April 2015
Matchday 65–6 May 2015
Knockout stageRound of 1619–20 May 201526–27 May 2015
Quarter-finals18 June 2015 [12] 25–26 August 201515–16 September 2015
Semi-finals29–30 September 201520–21 October 2015
Final7 November 201521 November 2015

Qualifying play-off

The bracket for the qualifying play-off, which consisted of three rounds (preliminary round 1, preliminary round 2, and play-off round), was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team. [13] Each tie was played as a single match, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. The winners of each tie in the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 automatic qualifiers. All losers in each round which were from associations with only play-off slots entered the 2015 AFC Cup group stage. [1]

Preliminary round 1

Team 1 Score Team 2
East Zone
Yadanarbon Flag of Myanmar.svg 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(5–6 p)
Flag of Singapore.svg Warriors
Johor Darul Ta'zim Flag of Malaysia.svg 2–1 (a.e.t.) Flag of India.svg Bengaluru FC

Preliminary round 2

Team 1 Score Team 2
West Zone
Al-Qadsia Flag of Kuwait.svg 1–0 Flag of Jordan.svg Al-Wehdat
El Jaish Flag of Qatar.svg 2–1 Flag of Oman.svg Al-Nahda
Al-Sadd Flag of Qatar.svg 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(11–10 p)
Flag of Bahrain.svg Riffa
Team 1 Score Team 2
East Zone
Hà Nội T&T Flag of Vietnam.svg 4–0 Flag of Indonesia.svg Persib Bandung
Chonburi Flag of Thailand.svg 4–1 Flag of Hong Kong.svg Kitchee
Guangzhou R&F Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 3–0 Flag of Singapore.svg Warriors
Bangkok Glass Flag of Thailand.svg 3–0 Flag of Malaysia.svg Johor Darul Ta'zim

Play-off round

Team 1 Score Team 2
West Zone
Al-Ahli Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg 2–1 (a.e.t.) Flag of Kuwait.svg Al-Qadsia
Naft Tehran Flag of Iran.svg 1–0 Flag of Qatar.svg El Jaish
Bunyodkor Flag of Uzbekistan.svg 2–1 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Jazira
Al-Wahda Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 4–4 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 p)
Flag of Qatar.svg Al-Sadd
Team 1 Score Team 2
East Zone
FC Seoul Flag of South Korea.svg 7–0 Flag of Vietnam.svg Hà Nội T&T
Kashiwa Reysol Flag of Japan.svg 3–2 (a.e.t.) Flag of Thailand.svg Chonburi
Central Coast Mariners Flag of Australia (converted).svg 1–3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou R&F
Beijing Guoan Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 3–0 Flag of Thailand.svg Bangkok Glass

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 11 December 2014. [13] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. 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.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: [1]

  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;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. Greater number of away goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4, teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 10 apply;
  6. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  7. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  9. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches (1 point for a single yellow card, 3 points for a red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for a direct red card, 4 points for a yellow card followed by a direct red card);
  10. Team who belongs to the member association with the higher AFC ranking.

Group A

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification LEK PER NSR BYD
1 Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 641195+413Advance to knockout stage 3–0 1–1 1–0
2 Flag of Iran.svg Persepolis 640277012 3–0 1–0 2–1
3 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Nassr 622276+18 1–3 3–0 1–1
4 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Bunyodkor 60152751 0–1 0–1 0–1
Source: AFC

Group B

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification AIN NAF PAK SHB
1 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ain 633072+512Advance to knockout stage 3–0 1–1 0–0
2 Flag of Iran.svg Naft Tehran 62228808 1–1 1–1 2–1
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Pakhtakor 61326826 0–1 2–1 0–2
4 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Shabab 61235835 0–1 0–3 2–2
Source: AFC

Group C

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification HIL SAD FOO LOK
1 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 641194+513Advance to knockout stage 2–1 2–0 3–1
2 Flag of Qatar.svg Al-Sadd 631299010 1–0 1–0 6–2
3 Flag of Iran.svg Foolad 61322426 0–0 0–0 1–0
4 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Lokomotiv Tashkent 6114101334 1–2 5–0 1–1
Source: AFC

Group D

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification AHS AHU NSF TRA
1 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Ahli 6330117+412Advance to knockout stage 2–1 2–1 2–0
2 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 62228808 3–3 0–0 3–2
3 Flag of Uzbekistan.svg Nasaf Qarshi 62225508 0–0 0–1 2–1
4 Flag of Iran.svg Tractor Sazi 611471144 2–2 1–0 1–2
Source: AFC

Group E

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification KSW JHM SLT BBD
1 Flag of Japan.svg Kashiwa Reysol 6321149+511Advance to knockout stage 3–2 2–1 5–1
2 Flag of South Korea.svg Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6321146+811 0–0 4–1 3–0
3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shandong Luneng Taishan 6213131747 4–4 1–4 3–1
4 Flag of Vietnam.svg Becamex Bình Dương 611461594 1–0 1–1 2–3
Source: AFC

Group F

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification GAM SNM BUR GRF
1 Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 6312107+310Advance to knockout stage 2–1 1–1 0–2
2 Flag of South Korea.svg Seongnam FC 631275+210 2–0 2–1 0–0
3 Flag of Thailand.svg Buriram United 6312127+510 1–2 2–1 5–0
4 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou R&F 6114313104 0–5 0–1 1–2
Source: AFC

Group G

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification BJG SSB BRI URA
1 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan 632163+311Advance to knockout stage 1–0 0–1 2–0
2 Flag of South Korea.svg Suwon Samsung Bluewings 6321118+311 1–1 3–1 2–1
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brisbane Roar 62137927 0–1 3–3 1–2
4 Flag of Japan.svg Urawa Red Diamonds 61145944 1–1 1–2 0–1
Source: AFC

Group H

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification GET SEO WSW KSM
1 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 631299010Advance to knockout stage 1–0 0–2 4–3
2 Flag of South Korea.svg FC Seoul 623154+19 0–0 0–0 1–0
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Western Sydney Wanderers 622297+28 2–3 1–1 1–2
4 Flag of Japan.svg Kashima Antlers 6204101336 2–1 2–3 1–3
Source: AFC

Knockout stage

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. Each tie was 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 were used to decide the winner if necessary. [1]

Bracket

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                
Flag of Iran.svg Persepolis 1 0 1
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 0 3 3
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 4 2 6
Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 1 2 3
Flag of Qatar.svg Al-Sadd 1 2 3
Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 2 2 4
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 1 2 3
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 1 3 4
Flag of Iran.svg Naft Tehran (a) 1 1 2
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Ahli 0 2 2
Flag of Iran.svg Naft Tehran 0 1 1
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 1 2 3
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli (a) 0 3 3
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ain 0 3 3
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 0 0 0
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 0 1 1
Flag of South Korea.svg Suwon Bluewings 2 2 4
Flag of Japan.svg Kashiwa Reysol (a) 3 1 4
Flag of Japan.svg Kashiwa Reysol 1 1 2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 3 1 4
Flag of South Korea.svg Seongnam FC 2 0 2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 1 2 3
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 2 0 2
Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 1 0 1
Flag of South Korea.svg Jeonbuk Motors 1 1 2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan 1 0 1
Flag of South Korea.svg Jeonbuk Motors 0 2 2
Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 0 3 3
Flag of South Korea.svg FC Seoul 1 2 3
Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 3 3 6

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group in the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Sadd Flag of Qatar.svg 3–4 Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 1–2 2–2
Persepolis Flag of Iran.svg 1–3 Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 1–0 0–3
Al-Ahli Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 3–3 (a) Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ain 0–0 3–3
Naft Tehran Flag of Iran.svg 2–2 (a) Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Ahli 1–0 1–2
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
East Zone
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Flag of South Korea.svg 4–4 (a) Flag of Japan.svg Kashiwa Reysol 2–3 2–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Flag of South Korea.svg 2–1 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Beijing Guoan 1–1 1–0
FC Seoul Flag of South Korea.svg 3–6 Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 1–3 2–3
Seongnam FC Flag of South Korea.svg 2–3 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1 0–2

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 June 2015. Teams from different zones could not be drawn into the same tie, and there was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie. [14]

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg 6–3 Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 4–1 2–2
Naft Tehran Flag of Iran.svg 1–3 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 0–1 1–2
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
East Zone
Kashiwa Reysol Flag of Japan.svg 2–4 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 1–3 1–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Flag of South Korea.svg 2–3 Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 0–0 2–3

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined by the quarter-final draw. [14]

Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg 3–4 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 1–1 2–3
Team 1 Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
East Zone
Guangzhou Evergrande Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 2–1 Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 2–1 0–0

Final

In the final, the finalist from the West Zone hosted the first leg, while the finalist from the East Zone hosted the second leg (no draw was held to determine the order of legs, as it was reversed from the previous season's final). [14]

Al-Ahli Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg 0–0 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Report
Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai
Attendance: 9,480
Referee: Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)
Guangzhou Evergrande Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 1–0 Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli
Elkeson Soccerball shade.svg54' Report
Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou
Attendance: 42,499
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Guangzhou Evergrande won 1–0 on aggregate.

Awards

AwardPlayerTeam
Most Valuable Player [15] Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Goulart Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Top Goalscorer [15] Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Goulart Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Fair Play Award [15] Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande

Dream team

The AFC selected the following 11 players as 2015 AFC Champions League dream team. [16]

Pos.PlayerTeam
GK Flag of Japan.svg Masaaki Higashiguchi Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka
DF Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhang Linpeng Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Flag of South Korea.svg Kwon Kyung-won Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli
Flag of South Korea.svg Kim Young-gwon Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Yasser Al-Shahrani Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal
MF Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Huang Bowen Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zheng Zhi Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Majed Hassan Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli
FW Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Ahmed Khalil Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli
Flag of Brazil.svg Elkeson Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande
Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Goulart Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande

Top scorers

RankPlayerTeamMD1MD2MD3MD4MD5MD62R12R2QF1QF2SF1SF2F1F2Total
1 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Goulart Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Guangzhou Evergrande 13228
2 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Yang Xu Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Shandong Luneng Taishan 21126
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Ahmed Khalil Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 12216
4 Flag of Tunisia.svg Youssef Msakni Flag of Qatar.svg Lekhwiya 111115
Flag of Syria.svg Omar Al Soma Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Ahli 1225
Flag of Ghana.svg Asamoah Gyan Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ain 11125
7 Flag of Brazil.svg Patric Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 2114
Flag of Japan.svg Takashi Usami Flag of Japan.svg Gamba Osaka 1124
Flag of Japan.svg Masato Kudo Flag of Japan.svg Kashiwa Reysol 2114
Flag of South Korea.svg Lee Dong-gook Flag of South Korea.svg Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 224
Flag of Brazil.svg Carlos Eduardo Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Al-Hilal 2114
Flag of Brazil.svg Diogo Flag of Thailand.svg Buriram United 134
Flag of Brazil.svg Lima Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 11114
Flag of Brazil.svg Everton Ribeiro Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg Al-Ahli 11114

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4). [1] [17]

Source: the-AFC.com [18] [19] [20]

See also

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