Thrilling battle lines were drawn following the conclusion of the AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) League Stage draw on Friday. In a pivotal change, the League Stage format will be utilised for the first time in an AFC club competition and features two leagues of 12 teams across the West and East regions.
United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain FC, who won the final season of the AFC Champions League, will meet Qatar sides Al Sadd, Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan, Saudi Arabia trio Al Hilal SFC, Al Ahli Saudi FC and Al Nassr and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and Al Shorta of Iraq.
Two-time AFC Champions League winners Ulsan HD, will face China’s Shanghai Port FC, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan, Japan’s Vissel Kobe, Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale, Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia and Buriram United of Thailand.
The line-up – comprising 22 teams that qualified directly and two Preliminary Stage winners – were placed into two pots within each region for the draw. For each region, every club was drawn into their respective position in the Draw Grid – Pot 1 clubs occupied any of the top two rows (A1-C2) and Pot 2 clubs the bottom two (A3-C4), which ensured they play against eight different sides from the other columns (eg clubs in column A were paired against clubs from columns B and C).
The Pairings Grid ensures that each team will play four home and four away matches against an equal number of clubs from Pots 1 and 2. An identical process applies to clubs in the East region, which were classified from D1-D4, E1-E4 and F1-F4.
The country protection principle was in force during the draw and a bespoke draw software was utilised to prevent any deadlock situations from occurring. The top eight finishers of each league progress to the Round of 16, scheduled for March 2025, which will be followed by a unique centralised finals that sees all matches from the quarter-finals onwards being contested in Saudi Arabia between April 25 and May 4, 2025.
Wakrah to face Tractor, Mohun Bagan and Ravshan
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Al Wakrah have been drawn alongside Tractor (Iran), Mohun Bagan (India) and Ravshan (Tajikistan) in Group A of AFC Champions League Two.
Four groups in the East and West respectively will house the 32 teams competing for the ultimate prize of being the inaugural winners of this brand new competition. Saudi Arabia’s Al Taawoun FC headline the Group B cast, with Iraq’s Air Force Club, Al Khaldiya SC of Bahrain and Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr their opponents.
In Group C, Sepahan SC of Iran will battle with United Arab Emirates’ Sharjah FC, FC Istiklol of Tajikistan and Jordan’s Al Wehdat while Shabab Al Ahli from the UAE, Uzbekistan’s PFC Nasaf, Al Hussein of Jordan and Kuwait SC are the four teams in Group D.
Over in the East section, Group E top seeds Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan have Australia’s Sydney FC, Kaya FC-Iloilo of the Philippines and Hong Kong’s Eastern for company while Zhejiang FC of China PR will fancy their chances in Group F where they were drawn with Thailand’s Port FC, Lion City Sailors FC of Singapore and Indonesia’s Persib Bandung..
Group G looks set for tantalising encounters with Thailand’s Bangkok United, Nam Dinh FC of Vietnam, Hong Kong’s Lee Man and Tampines Rovers of Singapore drawn together while Group H comprises Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Selangor FC of Malaysia, Thailand’s Muangthong United and Dynamic Herb Cebu FC of the Philippines.
The action commences on September 17 with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the knockout stage.
