2020 AFC Champions League
The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title.[3] Ulsan Hyundai won their second Champions League title by defeating Persepolis 2–1 in the final.[4] Ulsan automatically qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League (although they had already qualified through their domestic performance), the first time since 2008 that the AFC Champions League holders were guaranteed automatic qualification in the following year.[5][6] They also earned the right to play in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. The tournament was the last to involve 32 teams during the group stage, which increased to 40 teams in 2021.[7] The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after group stage matches on 4 March 2020,[8] and restarted on 14 September 2020.[9] All matches after the restart were played in Qatar,[10][11][12] with the final played at the Al Janoub Stadium in the city of Al Wakrah. Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, but the club effectively withdrew from the competition when they could not name the required 13 players for their final group stage match, as all but 11 players had tested positive for COVID-19.[13][14] For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was in use from the quarter-finals onwards.[15] Association team allocationThe 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) were 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 2019 and 2020 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2017 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.3):[16]
Association rankingFor the 2020 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking which was published on 15 December 2017,[17] which took into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2014 and 2017.[16][18]
TeamsThe following 52 teams from 23 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.
DSA Metropolitan Riyadh Qatar Tehran Tashkent Baghdad Seoul Capital Area Shanghai West Kanto Baghdad teams Al-Shorta Al-ZawraaTehran teams Persepolis EsteghlalQatar teams Al-Sadd Al-Duhail Al-Sailiya Al-Rayyan Riyadh teams Al-Nassr Al-HilalDSA Metropolitan teams Sharjah Shabab Al-AhliTashkent teams Pakhtakor Tashkent Lokomotiv Tashkent Bunyodkor Shanghai teams Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai SIPGWest Kanto teams Yokohama F. Marinos FC TokyoSeoul Capital Area teams Suwon Samsung Bluewings FC Seoul ScheduleThe schedule of the competition was as follows.[21] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only some of the group stage matches on matchdays 1–3 in February and March were played as scheduled, and all matches on matchdays 4–6 were postponed until further notice.[8] The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals were also initially moved to 10–12 and 24–26 August, 14–16 and 28–30 September, and 20–21 and 27–28 October.[22][23] The AFC announced the calendar of the remaining matches on 9 July 2020, with all matches before the final played at centralised venues, and all knockout ties played as a single match.[9] On 10 September 2020, the AFC announced the new dates for the East Region matches and the final.[24] Notes:
The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.
Qualifying play-offsIn the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.2).[3] The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each region was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match.[25] Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same tie. The eight winners of the play-off round (four each from both West Region and East Region) advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage. Preliminary round 1
Preliminary round 2
Play-off round
Group stageThe draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2019, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[26] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but moved to centralised venues after restart. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage.
Group A
Source: AFC Notes:
Group B
Source: AFC Notes:
Group C
Source: AFC
Notes: Group D
Source: AFC
Group E
Source: AFC
Group F
Source: AFC
Group G
Source: AFC Notes:
Group H
Source: AFC
Knockout stageIn the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. Each tie was played as a single-leg match at centralised venues, instead of the usual home-and-away two-legged basis as planned before the COVID-19 pandemic. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary. BracketThe bracket was decided after the draw for the quarter-finals. The draw for the West Region quarter-finals was held on 28 September 2020, 11:00 AST (UTC+3), and the draw for the East Region quarter-finals was held on 8 December 2020, 11:30 AST (UTC+3), both in Doha, Qatar.[31][32][33][34]
Round of 16In the round of 16, the winners of one group played against the runners-up of another group from the same region and the matchups were determined by the group stage draw.
Quarter-finalsIn the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Region played in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region played in two ties, with the matchups decided by draw, without any seeding or country protection. The draw for the West Region quarter-finals was held on 28 September 2020,[31][32] and the draw for the East Region quarter-finals was held on 8 December 2020.[33][34]
Semi-finalsIn the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Region played against each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Region played against each other.
FinalIn the final, the two semi-final winners played against each other, at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar.[12] AwardsMain awards
Note: Abderrazak Hamdallah finished ahead of Júnior Negrão to win the Top Scorer award despite scoring the same number of goals, and also having the same number of assists (first tiebreaker), since he played fewer minutes throughout the competition (second tiebreaker).[1] All Star SquadSource:[35]
Opta Best XISource:[36]
Fans' awardsThe AFC took polls of fans in its website after the tournament.
StatisticsStatistical leaders
Top scorers Team eliminated / inactive for this round. Player is not in the team but team still active for this round.
Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-offs and matches voided by AFC are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4).[3] Toyota Player of the Week awards
See alsoReferences
External links
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