2013 AFC Champions League

2013 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	09 Feb 2013 – 09 Nov 2013
Teams	35 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Guangzhou Evergrande (1st title)
Runners-up	FC Seoul
Third place	Esteghlal Kashiwa Reysol
Tournament statistics
Matches played	129
Goals scored	349 (2.71 per match)
Attendance	2,021,025 (15,667 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Muriqui (13 goals)
Best player	Muriqui

The 2013 AFC Champions League was the 32nd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 11th under the current AFC Champions League title. The defending champions, Ulsan Hyundai, failed to qualify for the tournament.

In the final, Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande defeated South Korean team FC Seoul on away goals to win their first title,^[1] becoming the first Chinese team to win the AFC Champions League (and the second Chinese team to be crowned Asian club champions after Liaoning FC), and qualified for the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.^[2]

Allocation of entries per association

The AFC laid out the procedure for deciding the participating associations and the allocation of slots, with inspection of the associations interested in participating in the AFC Champions League to be done in 2012, and the final decision to be made by the AFC in November 2012.^[3]

The following criteria for participation in the AFC Champions League were proposed by the AFC in July 2012:^[4]

• The member association (MA) has to acquire a minimum number of 600 points out of a possible 1000 according to the AFC evaluating system to qualify for participation.
• The slots for each eligible MA are decided based on the points ranking of the MAs:
  • The top two ranked MAs in both the East and West zones get four direct slots each.
  • The third-ranked MAs get three direct and one play-off slot.
  • The fourth-ranked MAs get two direct and one play-off slot.
  • The fifth-ranked MAs get one direct and one play-off slot.
  • The sixth, seventh and eighth-ranked MAs get only a play-off slot each.
• 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).

On 29 November 2012, the AFC Executive Committee approved the slots for the 2013 edition of the AFC Champions League.^[5] However, this final allocation of slots did not fully follow the proposal above.^[6]

Evaluation for 2013 AFC Champions League
	Fulfills criteria (> 600 points)
	Does not fulfill criteria, but allocated slots
	Does not fulfill criteria, not allocated slots

West Asia Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off 1 Saudi Arabia 860.5 4 0 2 Qatar 838.2 4 0 3 Iran 813.5 3 1 4 United Arab Emirates 750.2 2 2 5 Uzbekistan 680.8 ^[A]2^[A] 1 6 India −106.4 0 0 7 Jordan −128.7 0 0 Total ^[A]14^[A] 4

East Asia Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off 1 Japan 946.8 4 0 2 South Korea 886.6 4 0 3 China PR 796.7 4 0 4 Australia 567.0 1 1 5 Thailand 177.2 1 1 6 Singapore −135.1 0 0 7 Vietnam −815.7 0 0 Total ^[A]15^[A] 2

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} One of the two group stage direct entrants from Uzbekistan was moved to the East Asia Zone.

Teams

The following teams 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.

West Asia Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Shabab 2011–12 Saudi Professional League champions 7th 2011 Al-Ahli 2012 King Cup of Champions winners 2011–12 Saudi Professional League runners-up 6th 2012 Al-Hilal 2011–12 Saudi Professional League 3rd place 9th 2012 Al-Ettifaq 2011–12 Saudi Professional League 4th place 3rd 2012 Lekhwiya 2011–12 Qatar Stars League champions 2nd 2012 Al-Gharafa 2012 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 8th 2012 El Jaish 2011–12 Qatar Stars League runners-up 1st none Al-Rayyan 2011–12 Qatar Stars League 3rd place 5th 2012 Sepahan 2011–12 Iran Pro League champions 9th 2012 Esteghlal 2011–12 Hazfi Cup winners 2011–12 Iran Pro League 3rd place 6th 2012 Tractor Sazi 2011–12 Iran Pro League runners-up 1st none Al-Ain 2011–12 UAE Pro-League champions 8th 2011 Al-Jazira 2011–12 UAE President's Cup winners 5th 2012 Pakhtakor 2012 Uzbek League champions 11th 2012 Qualifying play-off participants Saba Qom 2011–12 Iran Pro League 4th place 3rd 2009 Al-Nasr 2011–12 UAE Pro-League runners-up 2nd 2012 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 2011–12 UAE Pro-League 3rd place 3rd 2012 Lokomotiv Tashkent 2012 Uzbek League 3rd place 1st none

East Asia Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2012 J. League Division 1 champions 2nd 2010 Kashiwa Reysol 2012 Emperor's Cup winners 2nd 2012 Vegalta Sendai 2012 J. League Division 1 runners-up 1st none Urawa Red Diamonds 2012 J. League Division 1 3rd place 3rd 2008 FC Seoul 2012 K-League champions 3rd 2011 Pohang Steelers 2012 Korean FA Cup winners 2012 K-League 3rd place 5th 2012 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2012 K-League runners-up 7th 2012 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2012 K-League 4th place 5th 2011 Guangzhou Evergrande 2012 Chinese Super League champions 2012 Chinese FA Cup winners 2nd 2012 Jiangsu Sainty 2012 Chinese Super League runners-up 1st none Beijing Guoan 2012 Chinese Super League 3rd place 5th 2012 Guizhou Renhe 2012 Chinese Super League 4th place 1st none Bunyodkor 2012 Uzbekistan Cup winners 2012 Uzbek League runners-up 6th 2012 Central Coast Mariners 2011–12 A-League premiers 3rd 2012 Muangthong United 2012 Thai Premier League champions 3rd 2011 Qualifying play-off participants Brisbane Roar 2012 A-League Grand Final winners 2nd 2012 Buriram United 2012 Thai FA Cup winners 3rd 2012

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).^[7]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying play-off	Round 1	6 December 2012[8]	9 February 2013
Group stage	Matchday 1		26–27 February 2013
	Matchday 2		12–13 March 2013
	Matchday 3		2–3 April 2013
	Matchday 4		9–10 April 2013
	Matchday 5		23–24 April 2013
	Matchday 6		30 April–1 May 2013
Knock-out stage	Round of 16		14–15 May 2013	21–22 May 2013
	Quarter-finals	20 June 2013[9]	21 August 2013	18 September 2013
	Semi-finals		25 September 2013	2 October 2013
	Final		25 or 26 October 2013	8 or 9 November 2013

Format changes

The following changes in the format of the competition were made compared with the previous year:

• Losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off did not participate in the AFC Cup.
• The round of 16 was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis instead of as a single match.^[5]
• The final was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis instead of as a single match.^[10]

Qualifying play-off

The draw for the qualifying play-off was held on 6 December 2012.^[11] Each tie was played as a single match, with extra time and penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if necessary. The winners of each tie advanced to the group stage to join the 29 automatic qualifiers.^[2]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia Zone
Saba Qom	1–1 (aet)(3–5p)	Al-Shabab Al-Arabi
Al-Nasr	3–2	Lokomotiv Tashkent
East Asia Zone
Buriram United	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–0p)^[B]	Brisbane Roar

Notes

2. ^ Brisbane Roar was given home advantage in the original draw, but the match was later switched to be hosted by Buriram United per agreement between the two teams due to rescheduling of the match from the original date.^[12]

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2012.^[11] 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 tie, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:^[2]

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 (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. Penalty shoot-out 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 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)
8. Drawing of lots

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Shabab 6 4 1 1 7 5 +2 13 El Jaish 6 3 2 1 14 9 +5 11 Al-Jazira 6 1 2 3 7 10 −3 5 Tractor Sazi 6 1 1 4 8 12 −4 4

JAZ SHB JSH TRA Al-Jazira — 1–1 1−1 2–0 Al-Shabab 2–1 — 2–0 1–0 El Jaish 3–1 3–0 — 3–3 Tractor Sazi 3–1 0−1 2–4 —

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Lekhwiya 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 6 3 0 3 8 9 −1 9 Al-Ettifaq 6 2 1 3 6 5 +1 7 Pakhtakor 6 2 1 3 6 9 −3 7

ETT SHA LEK PAK Al-Ettifaq — 4–1 0–0 2–0 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 1−0 — 3–1 0–1 Lekhwiya 2−0 2–1 — 3−1 Pakhtakor 1–0 1−2 2–2 —

Tiebreakers

• Al-Ettifaq are ranked ahead of Pakhtakor on head-to-head record.

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Ahli 6 4 2 0 16 8 +8 14 Al-Gharafa 6 3 1 2 13 11 +2 10 Sepahan 6 3 0 3 12 13 −1 9 Al-Nasr 6 0 1 5 7 16 −9 1

AHL GHA NAS SEP Al-Ahli — 2–0 2−2 4−1 Al-Gharafa 2–2 — 3−1 3–1 Al-Nasr 1–2 2–4 — 1–2 Sepahan 2–4 3–1 3–0 —

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Esteghlal 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 13 Al-Hilal 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12 Al-Ain 6 2 0 4 6 9 −3 6 Al-Rayyan 6 1 1 4 7 14 −7 4

AIN HIL RAY EST Al-Ain — 3–1 2–1 0–1 Al-Hilal 2–0 — 3–1 1–2 Al-Rayyan 2–1 0–2 — 3–3 Esteghlal 2–0 0–1 3–0 —

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts FC Seoul 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11 Buriram United 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7 Jiangsu Sainty 6 2 1 3 5 10 −5 7 Vegalta Sendai 6 1 3 2 5 6 −1 6

BUR SEO JIA SEN Buriram United — 0–0 2–0 1–1 FC Seoul 2–2 — 5–1 2–1 Jiangsu Sainty 2–0 0–2 — 0–0 Vegalta Sendai 1–1 1–0 1–2 —

Tiebreakers

• Buriram United and Jiangsu Sainty are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Guangzhou Evergrande 6 3 2 1 14 5 +9 11 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 2 4 0 10 6 +4 10 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 3 1 2 11 11 0 10 Muangthong United 6 0 1 5 4 17 −13 1

GUA JEO MUA URA Guangzhou Evergrande — 0–0 4–0 3–0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–1 — 2–0 2–2 Muangthong United 1–4 2–2 — 0–1 Urawa Red Diamonds 3–2 1–3 4–1 —

Tiebreakers

• Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are ranked ahead of Urawa Red Diamonds on head-to-head record.

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Bunyodkor 6 2 4 0 6 3 +3 10 Beijing Guoan 6 2 3 1 4 2 +2 9 Pohang Steelers 6 1 4 1 5 6 −1 7 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 0 3 3 2 6 −4 3

BEI BUN POH HIR Beijing Guoan — 0–1 2–0 2–1 Bunyodkor 0–0 — 2–2 0–0 Pohang Steelers 0–0 1–1 — 1–1 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 0–0 0–2 0–1 —

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Kashiwa Reysol 6 4 2 0 14 4 +10 14 Central Coast Mariners 6 2 1 3 5 9 −4 7 Guizhou Renhe 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 6 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 6 0 4 2 4 9 −5 4

CCM GUI KSW SUW Central Coast Mariners — 2–1 0–3 0–0 Guizhou Renhe 2–1 — 0–1 2–2 Kashiwa Reysol 3–1 1–1 — 0–0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0–1 0–0 2–6 —

Knock-out stage

In the knock-out stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. 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.^[2]

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	El Jaish	1	0	1
	Al-Ahli	1	2	3
							Al-Ahli	1	0	1
							FC Seoul	1	1	2
	Beijing Guoan	0	1	1
	FC Seoul	0	3	3
													FC Seoul	2	2	4
												Esteghlal	0	2	2
	Al-Shabab Al-Arabi	2	0	2
	Esteghlal	4	0	4
							Esteghlal	1	2	3
							Buriram United	0	1	1
	Buriram United	2	0	2
	Bunyodkor	1	0	1
																		FC Seoul	2	1	3
																			Guangzhou Evergrande (a)	2	1	3
	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0	2	2
	Kashiwa Reysol	2	3	5
							Kashiwa Reysol (a)	1	2	3
							Al-Shabab	1	2	3
	Al-Gharafa	1	0	1
	Al-Shabab	2	3	5
													Kashiwa Reysol	1	0	1
												Guangzhou Evergrande	4	4	8
	Central Coast Mariners	1	0	1
	Guangzhou Evergrande	2	3	5
							Guangzhou Evergrande	2	4	6
							Lekhwiya	0	1	1
	Al-Hilal	0	2	2
	Lekhwiya	1	2	3

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.^[2]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Asia Zone
Al-Gharafa	1–5	Al-Shabab	1–2	0–3
El Jaish	1–3	Al-Ahli	1–1	0–2
Al-Hilal	2–3	Lekhwiya	0–1	2–2
Al-Shabab Al-Arabi	2–4	Esteghlal	2–4	0–0
East Asia Zone
Beijing Guoan	1–3	FC Seoul	0–0	1–3
Buriram United	2–1	Bunyodkor	2–1	0−0
Central Coast Mariners	1–5	Guangzhou Evergrande	1–2	0–3
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–5	Kashiwa Reysol	0–2	2–3

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final (to decide the order of two legs) was held on 20 June 2013.^[13] In this draw, teams from different zones could play each other, and the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two teams from the same association, they may not play each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two teams from the same association, they may play each other in the quarter-finals.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Ahli	1–2	FC Seoul	1–1	0–1
Esteghlal	3–1	Buriram United	1–0	2–1
Kashiwa Reysol	3–3 (a)	Al-Shabab	1–1	2–2
Guangzhou Evergrande	6–1	Lekhwiya	2–0	4–1

Semi-finals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
FC Seoul	4–2	Esteghlal	2–0	2–2
Kashiwa Reysol	1–8	Guangzhou Evergrande	1–4	0–4

Final

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
FC Seoul	3–3 (a)	Guangzhou Evergrande	2–2	1–1

Winners

AFC Champions League 2013 Winners
Guangzhou Evergrande First Title

Awards

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player[14]	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande
Top Goalscorer[14]	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande
Fair Play Award	—	FC Seoul

AFC Champions League 2013 Dream Team^[15]

Starting XI
Pos.	Player	Team
GK	Kim Yong-Dae	FC Seoul
DF	Zhang Linpeng	Guangzhou Evergrande
DF	Hanif Omranzadeh	Esteghlal
DF	Daisuke Suzuki	Kashiwa Reysol
DF	Sun Xiang	Guangzhou Evergrande
MF	Zheng Zhi	Guangzhou Evergrande
MF	Darío Conca	Guangzhou Evergrande
MF	Javad Nekounam	Esteghlal
FW	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande
FW	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul
FW	Elkeson	Guangzhou Evergrande
Substitutes
GK	Takanori Sugeno	Kashiwa Reysol
DF	Kwak Tae-Hwi	Al-Shabab
DF	Theeraton Bunmathan	Buriram United
DF	Kim Jin-Kyu	FC Seoul
MF	Ha Dae-Sung	FC Seoul
MF	Jorge Wagner	Kashiwa Reysol
FW	Masato Kudo	Kashiwa Reysol

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	2R1	2R2	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande	1	1	1	2	1		1	1		1	2	2			13
2	Darío Conca	Guangzhou Evergrande			2					1	1	1	2	1			8
3	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul	2								1	1	1		1	1	7
	Wagner Ribeiro	El Jaish		2	2		3										7
5	Elkeson	Guangzhou Evergrande									1	2		1	1	1	6
	Masato Kudo	Kashiwa Reysol			2			1	1	1	1						6
7	Mustafa Al-Bassas	Al-Ahli	1			2				1							4
	Amad Al Hosni	Al-Ahli		2	1		1										4
	Djibril Cissé	Al-Gharafa		2	1		1										4
	Edgar	Al-Shabab Al-Arabi	1			1	1		1								4
	Youssef Msakni	Lekhwiya	1			1	1		1								4
	Sebastián Soria	Lekhwiya	1		2	1											4
	Sebastián Tagliabué	Al-Shabab				1			1	2							4
	Yun Il-Lok	FC Seoul	2				1			1							4

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted.^[16]

Source:^[17][18]

See also

• 2013 AFC Cup
• 2013 AFC President's Cup
• 2013 FIFA Club World Cup

References

1. "Guangzhou win 2013 AFC Champions League". AFC. 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
2. "AFC Champions League 2013 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
3. "Decision by Competitions Committee & Executive Committee for AFC Club Competitions" (PDF). AFC.
4. "New direction for AFC club action". AFC. 17 July 2012.
5. "Solidarity marks AFC ExCo meeting". AFC. 29 November 2012.
6. "ACL 2013 Slot Allocation" (PDF). AFC. 4 December 2012.
7. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2013" (PDF). AFC.
8. "Clubs await Thursday’s ACL draw". AFC. 4 December 2012.
9. "Invitation to the Official Draw for the AFC Champions League & AFC Cup 2013". AIPS. 6 June 2013.
10. "Maldives to host 2014 AFC Challenge Cup". AFC. 28 November 2012.
11. "ACL 2013 – Group Stage Draw". AFC. 6 December 2012.
12. "AFC confirm play-off date". Football Federation Australia. 19 December 2012.
13. "Al Ahli renew Korean acquaintances in quarter-finals". AFC. 20 June 2013.
14. "Triple delight for Muriqui". AFC. 10 November 2013.
15. "AFC Champions League 2013 Dream Team". AFC Champions League (Official) Facebook Page. 15 November 2013.
16. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Play-off". AFC.com.
17. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Group Stage". AFC.com.
18. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Knock-out Stage". AFC.com.

External links

• AFC Champions League