News ID: 214

Date: 25 August 2024 - 23:11

AFC Champions League Elite

#ACLElite League Stage hopefuls learn opponents

Kuala Lumpur: Thrilling battle lines were drawn following the conclusion of the AFC Champions League Elite™ (ACL Elite) 2024/25 season 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 SC, 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 PR’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 to C2) and Pot 2 clubs the bottom two (A3 to C4), which ensured they play against eight different sides from the other columns (e.g. 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 to D4, E1 to E4 and F1 to 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.

Click HERE for League Stage Pairings

Click HERE for the Match Schedule