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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.

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

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, which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014. 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:

• The top 24 member associations (MAs) as per the AFC rankings are eligible to receive direct slots in the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
• In both the East and West zones, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
• The top six MAs in both the East and West zones get direct slots in the group stage, while the remaining MAs get play-off slots:
  • The first- and second-ranked MAs each get three direct slots and one play-off slot.
  • The third- and fourth-ranked MAs each get two direct slots and two play-off slots.
  • The fifth-ranked MAs each get one direct slot and two play-off slots.
  • The sixth-ranked MAs each get one direct slot and one play-off slot.
  • The seventh- to twelfth-ranked MAs each get one play-off slot.
• The maximum number of slots for each MA is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division (e.g., Australia can only get a maximum of three total slots as there are only nine Australia-based clubs in the A-League).

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.

West Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off Zone All Play-off round Prelim. round 2 1 2 Saudi Arabia 88.268 3 1 0 2 3 Iran 80.794 3 1 0 3 5 Uzbekistan 62.272 3 1 0 4 7 United Arab Emirates 57.792 2 2 0 5 9 Qatar 56.103 1 0 2 6 10 Iraq 47.106 0 0 0 7 11 Kuwait 45.423 0 0 1 8 12 Jordan 44.309 0 0 1 9 14 Oman 30.586 0 0 1 10 16 Bahrain 25.547 0 0 1 11 17 Lebanon 25.043 0 0 0 12 19 Syria 22.883 0 0 0 Total 12 5 6 11

East Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off Zone All Play-off round Prelim. round 2 Prelim. round 1 1 1 South Korea 94.866 3 1 0 0 2 4 Japan 77.107 3 1 0 0 3 6 Australia 57.940 2 1 0 0 4 8 China 57.660 2 1 1 0 5 13 Thailand 33.049 1 0 2 0 6 15 Vietnam 27.753 1 0 1 0 7 18 Indonesia 25.004 0 0 1 0 8 20 Hong Kong 20.077 0 0 1 0 9 21 Myanmar 18.949 0 0 0 1 10 22 Malaysia 18.153 0 0 0 1 11 23 India 16.756 0 0 0 1 12 24 Singapore 16.097 0 0 0 1 Total 12 4 6 4 14

Notes

1. ^ 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.

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.

West Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Nassr 2013–14 Saudi Professional League champions 2nd 2011 Al-Shabab 2014 King Cup of Champions winners 9th 2014 Al-Hilal 2013–14 Saudi Professional League runners-up 11th 2014 Foolad 2013–14 Iran Pro League champions 3rd 2014 Tractor 2013–14 Hazfi Cup winners 3rd 2014 Persepolis 2013–14 Iran Pro League runners-up 5th 2012 Pakhtakor 2014 Uzbek League champions 12th 2013 Lokomotiv Tashkent 2014 Uzbekistan Cup winners 2014 Uzbek League runners-up 3rd 2014 Nasaf Qarshi 2014 Uzbek League 3rd place 3rd 2014 Al-Ahli 2013–14 Arabian Gulf League champions 6th 2014 Al-Ain 2013–14 UAE President's Cup winners 10th 2014 Lekhwiya 2013–14 Qatar Stars League champions 4th 2014 Qualifying play-off participants Entering in play-off round Al-Ahli 2013–14 Saudi Professional League 3rd place 7th 2013 Naft Tehran 2013–14 Iran Pro League 3rd place 1st none Bunyodkor 2014 Uzbek League 4th place 8th 2014 Al-Wahda 2013–14 Arabian Gulf League runners-up 7th 2011 Al-Jazira 2013–14 Arabian Gulf League 3rd place 7th 2014 Entering in preliminary round 2 Al-Sadd 2014 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 10th 2014 El Jaish 2013–14 Qatar Stars League runners-up 3rd 2014 Al-Qadsia 2013–14 Kuwaiti Premier League champions 5th 2014 Al-Wehdat 2013–14 Jordan League champions 2nd 2002–03 Al-Nahda 2013–14 Oman Professional League champions 1st none Riffa 2013–14 Bahrain First Division League champions 3rd 2004

East Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2014 K League Classic champions 9th 2014 Seongnam FC 2014 Korean FA Cup winners 6th 2012 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2014 K League Classic runners-up 6th 2013 Gamba Osaka 2014 J.League Division 1 champions and 2014 Emperor's Cup winners 7th 2012 Urawa Red Diamonds 2014 J.League Division 1 runners-up 4th 2013 Kashima Antlers 2014 J.League Division 1 3rd place 6th 2011 Brisbane Roar 2013–14 A-League and 2014 A-League Grand Final winners 3rd 2013 Western Sydney Wanderers 2013–14 A-League regular season runners-up 2nd 2014 Guangzhou Evergrande 2014 Chinese Super League champions 4th 2014 Shandong Luneng Taishan 2014 Chinese FA Cup winners 7th 2014 Buriram United 2014 Thai Premier League champions 5th 2014 Becamex Bình Dương 2014 V.League 1 champions 2nd 2008 Qualifying play-off participants Entering in play-off round FC Seoul 2014 K League Classic 3rd place 5th 2014 Kashiwa Reysol 2014 J.League Division 1 4th place 3rd 2013 Central Coast Mariners 2013–14 A-League regular season 3rd place 5th 2014 Beijing Guoan 2014 Chinese Super League runners-up 7th 2014 Entering in preliminary round 2 Guangzhou R&F 2014 Chinese Super League 3rd place 1st none Bangkok Glass 2014 Thai FA Cup winners 1st none Chonburi 2014 Thai Premier League runners-up 4th 2014 Hà Nội T&T 2014 V.League 1 runners-up 2nd 2014 Persib Bandung 2014 Indonesia Super League champions 1st none Kitchee 2013–14 Hong Kong First Division League champions 1st none Entering in preliminary round 1 Yadanarbon 2014 Myanmar National League champions 1st none Johor Darul Ta'zim 2014 Malaysia Super League champions 1st none Bengaluru FC 2013–14 I-League champions 1st none Warriors 2014 S.League champions 3rd 2010

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.

Schedule

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

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. 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.

Preliminary round 1

East Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Yadanarbon	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p)	Warriors
Johor Darul Ta'zim	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Bengaluru FC

Preliminary round 2

West Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Al-Qadsia	1–0	Al-Wehdat
El Jaish	2–1	Al-Nahda
Al-Sadd	0–0 (a.e.t.) (11–10 p)	Riffa

East Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Hà Nội T&T	4–0	Persib Bandung
Chonburi	4–1	Kitchee
Guangzhou R&F	3–0	Warriors
Bangkok Glass	3–0	Johor Darul Ta'zim

Play-off round

West Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Al-Ahli	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Qadsia
Naft Tehran	1–0	El Jaish
Bunyodkor	2–1	Al-Jazira
Al-Wahda	4–4 (a.e.t.) (4–5 p)	Al-Sadd

East Zone

Team 1	Score	Team 2
FC Seoul	7–0	Hà Nội T&T
Kashiwa Reysol	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Chonburi
Central Coast Mariners	1–3	Guangzhou R&F
Beijing Guoan	3–0	Bangkok Glass

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 11 December 2014. 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. 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

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEK	PER	NSR	BYD
1	Lekhwiya	6	4	1	1	9	5	+4	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	3–0	1–1	1–0
2	Persepolis	6	4	0	2	7	7	0	12			3–0	—	1–0	2–1
3	Al-Nassr	6	2	2	2	7	6	+1	8			1–3	3–0	—	1–1
4	Bunyodkor	6	0	1	5	2	7	−5	1			0–1	0–1	0–1	—

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AIN	NAF	PAK	SHB
1	Al-Ain	6	3	3	0	7	2	+5	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	3–0	1–1	0–0
2	Naft Tehran	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8			1–1	—	1–1	2–1
3	Pakhtakor	6	1	3	2	6	8	−2	6			0–1	2–1	—	0–2
4	Al-Shabab	6	1	2	3	5	8	−3	5			0–1	0–3	2–2	—

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		HIL	SAD	FOO	LOK
1	Al-Hilal	6	4	1	1	9	4	+5	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–1	2–0	3–1
2	Al-Sadd	6	3	1	2	9	9	0	10			1–0	—	1–0	6–2
3	Foolad	6	1	3	2	2	4	−2	6			0–0	0–0	—	1–0
4	Lokomotiv Tashkent	6	1	1	4	10	13	−3	4			1–2	5–0	1–1	—

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHS	AHU	NSF	TRA
1	Al-Ahli	6	3	3	0	11	7	+4	12	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–1	2–1	2–0
2	Al-Ahli	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	8			3–3	—	0–0	3–2
3	Nasaf Qarshi	6	2	2	2	5	5	0	8			0–0	0–1	—	2–1
4	Tractor Sazi	6	1	1	4	7	11	−4	4			2–2	1–0	1–2	—

Group E

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KSW	JHM	SLT	BBD
1	Kashiwa Reysol	6	3	2	1	14	9	+5	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	3–2	2–1	5–1
2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	6	3	2	1	14	6	+8	11			0–0	—	4–1	3–0
3	Shandong Luneng Taishan	6	2	1	3	13	17	−4	7			4–4	1–4	—	3–1
4	Becamex Bình Dương	6	1	1	4	6	15	−9	4			1–0	1–1	2–3	—

Group F

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GAM	SNM	BUR	GRF
1	Gamba Osaka	6	3	1	2	10	7	+3	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–1	1–1	0–2
2	Seongnam FC	6	3	1	2	7	5	+2	10			2–0	—	2–1	0–0
3	Buriram United	6	3	1	2	12	7	+5	10			1–2	2–1	—	5–0
4	Guangzhou R&F	6	1	1	4	3	13	−10	4			0–5	0–1	1–2	—

Group G

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BJG	SSB	BRI	URA
1	Beijing Guoan	6	3	2	1	6	3	+3	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	0–1	2–0
2	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	3	2	1	11	8	+3	11			1–1	—	3–1	2–1
3	Brisbane Roar	6	2	1	3	7	9	−2	7			0–1	3–3	—	1–2
4	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	1	1	4	5	9	−4	4			1–1	1–2	0–1	—

Group H

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GET	SEO	WSW	KSM
1	Guangzhou Evergrande	6	3	1	2	9	9	0	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	0–2	4–3
2	FC Seoul	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	9			0–0	—	0–0	1–0
3	Western Sydney Wanderers	6	2	2	2	9	7	+2	8			2–3	1–1	—	1–2
4	Kashima Antlers	6	2	0	4	10	13	−3	6			2–1	2–3	1–3	—

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.

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Persepolis	1	0	1
	Al-Hilal	0	3	3
							Al-Hilal	4	2	6
							Lekhwiya	1	2	3
	Al-Sadd	1	2	3
	Lekhwiya	2	2	4
													Al-Hilal	1	2	3
													Al-Ahli	1	3	4
	Naft Tehran (a)	1	1	2
	Al-Ahli	0	2	2
							Naft Tehran	0	1	1
							Al-Ahli	1	2	3
	Al-Ahli (a)	0	3	3
	Al-Ain	0	3	3
																			Al-Ahli	0	0	0
																			Guangzhou Evergrande	0	1	1
	Suwon Bluewings	2	2	4
	Kashiwa Reysol (a)	3	1	4
							Kashiwa Reysol	1	1	2
							Guangzhou Evergrande	3	1	4
	Seongnam FC	2	0	2
	Guangzhou Evergrande	1	2	3
													Guangzhou Evergrande	2	0	2
													Gamba Osaka	1	0	1
	Jeonbuk Motors	1	1	2
	Beijing Guoan	1	0	1
							Jeonbuk Motors	0	2	2
							Gamba Osaka	0	3	3
	FC Seoul	1	2	3
	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.

West Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Sadd	3–4	Lekhwiya	1–2	2–2
Persepolis	1–3	Al-Hilal	1–0	0–3
Al-Ahli	3–3 (a)	Al-Ain	0–0	3–3
Naft Tehran	2–2 (a)	Al-Ahli	1–0	1–2

East Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	4–4 (a)	Kashiwa Reysol	2–3	2–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–1	Beijing Guoan	1–1	1–0
FC Seoul	3–6	Gamba Osaka	1–3	2–3
Seongnam FC	2–3	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.

West Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Hilal	6–3	Lekhwiya	4–1	2–2
Naft Tehran	1–3	Al-Ahli	0–1	1–2

East Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Kashiwa Reysol	2–4	Guangzhou Evergrande	1–3	1–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–3	Gamba Osaka	0–0	2–3

Semi-finals

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

West Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Hilal	3–4	Al-Ahli	1–1	2–3

East Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Guangzhou Evergrande	2–1	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).

Al-Ahli	0–0	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Report

Guangzhou Evergrande	1–0	Al-Ahli
Elkeson 54'	Report

Guangzhou Evergrande won 1–0 on aggregate.

Awards

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou Evergrande
Top Goalscorer	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou Evergrande
Fair Play Award	—	Guangzhou Evergrande

Dream team

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

Pos.	Player	Team
GK	Masaaki Higashiguchi	Gamba Osaka
DF	Zhang Linpeng	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Kwon Kyung-won	Al-Ahli
	Kim Young-gwon	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Yasser Al-Shahrani	Al-Hilal
MF	Huang Bowen	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Zheng Zhi	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Majed Hassan	Al-Ahli
FW	Ahmed Khalil	Al-Ahli
	Elkeson	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou Evergrande

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	2R1	2R2	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Ricardo Goulart	Guangzhou Evergrande	1	3	2					2							8
2	Yang Xu	Shandong Luneng Taishan	2	1		1	2										6
	Ahmed Khalil	Al-Ahli	1					2		2		1					6
4	Youssef Msakni	Lekhwiya					1	1	1	1	1						5
	Omar Al Soma	Al-Ahli		1		2				2							5
	Asamoah Gyan	Al-Ain		1			1	1		2							5
7	Patric	Gamba Osaka					2			1		1					4
	Takashi Usami	Gamba Osaka					1	1	2								4
	Masato Kudo	Kashiwa Reysol		2		1					1						4
	Lee Dong-gook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors			2		2										4
	Carlos Eduardo	Al-Hilal									2	1		1			4
	Diogo	Buriram United					1	3									4
	Lima	Al-Ahli									1	1	1	1			4
	Everton Ribeiro	Al-Ahli				1	1	1						1			4

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

Source: the-AFC.com

See also

• 2015 AFC Cup
• 2015 FIFA Club World Cup

References

1. ^ "AFC Champions League 2015 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
2. "Revamp of AFC competitions". AFC. 25 January 2014.
3. "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
4. ^ "AFC MA Ranking as at 3 November 2014" (PDF). AFC.
5. "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". AFC. 28 November 2014.
6. ^ "AFC Champions League slots allocated for 2015-2016". AFC. 4 December 2014.
7. "Slot allocation for ACL 2015 - 2016" (PDF). AFC.
8. "AFC Champions League 2015: The contenders..." AFC. 10 December 2014.
9. "CHÍNH THỨC: B.Bình Dương và Hà Nội T&T tham dự AFC Champions League 2015" (in Vietnamese). Vietnam Football Federation. 30 November 2014. Archived from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
10. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC.
11. "The Official Draw of the AFC Champions League 2015". NewTR.tv. 11 December 2014.
12. "The Official Draw for the AFC Champions League & AFC Cup 2015". NewTR.tv. 18 June 2015.
13. ^ "AFC Champions League 2015 Draw". AFC. 12 December 2014.
14. ^ "Al Hilal to face Lekhwiya in ACL quarter-finals". AFC. 18 June 2015.
15. ^ "Hotshot Goulart adds awards to ACL title success". AFC. 22 November 2015.
16. "ACL2015 Dream Team". AFC Champions League. 23 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
17. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2015 AFC Champions League Playoff". AFC.com.
18. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2015 AFC Champions League Group Stage". AFC.com.
19. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2015 AFC Champions League Round of 16". AFC.com.
20. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2015 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage". AFC.com.

External links

• AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com

• 2015 AFC Champions League
• 2015 in Asian football