2014 AFC Champions League

The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Western Sydney Wanderers in the quarter-finals.

2014 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates29 January – 1 November 2014
Teams47 (from 19 associations)
Final positions
Champions Western Sydney Wanderers (1st title)
Runners-up Al-Hilal
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored325 (2.58 per match)
Attendance1,897,236 (15,057 per match)
Top scorer(s) Asamoah Gyan
(12 goals)
Best player(s) Ante Covic

In the final, Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia defeated Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia 1–0 on aggregate, to become the first Australian team to win the title,[1] and in doing so qualified for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup.[2] The Australian club were making their debut in the competition, having won entry to the competition by winning the 2012–13 A-League Premiership in their first year of existence.

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 2013, and the final decision to be made by the AFC on 26 November 2013.[3]

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed the following participating criteria for the 2014–2016 editions of the AFC Champions League on 12 March 2013:[4]

  • The top 23 member associations (MAs) as per the AFC rankings can apply either for direct slots or play-off slots.[5] The interested MAs are given points and ranked according to the AFC evaluating system.
  • In both the East and West zones, there are a total of 14 direct slots in the group stage, with the 2 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
  • The top five MAs in both the East and West zones, if they acquire a minimum of 600 points, get direct slots in the group stage, while the remaining MAs, if they meet the minimum requirements, get play-off slots. The following scheme of allocating slots was approved by the AFC for the 2014–16 tournaments:[6]
    • 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 two play-off slots.
    • The fifth-ranked MAs get one direct and two play-off slots.
    • The sixth- to eleventh-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 Cup winners and runners-up are given a play-off slot, regardless of their respective MA's rank, as long as the club meets the minimum criteria. If they have already qualified based on domestic performance, the slot is given to the next eligible club in its MA, as long as the club meets the minimum criteria.

On 26 November 2013, the AFC Executive Committee approved the slots for the 2014 edition of the AFC Champions League.[7][8]

Evaluation for 2014 AFC Champions League
Fulfills criteria (> 600 points)
Does not fulfill criteria, but allocated slots
Not assessed, but allocated slots
Notes
  1. ^ a b c
    The play-off entrant from India is moved to the East Asia Zone.
  2. ^
    Kuwait got one play-off slot based on the AFC Champions League evaluation. Moreover, Al-Kuwait and Al-Qadsia were the 2013 AFC Cup winners and runners-up respectively, and were given play-off slots. However, since they were the only two Kuwaiti clubs which passed the club licensing requirements, Kuwait only had two teams entering the qualifying play-off.[8][9]

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. TH means title holders.

Notes
  1. ^
    Bahrain (BHR): Al-Hidd were chosen to represent Bahrain in the AFC Champions League as they passed the club licensing requirements.[10]
  2. ^
    India (IND): Pune were chosen to represent India in the AFC Champions League as they passed the club licensing requirements.[11]
Location of teams of the 2014 AFC Champions League.
West Asia Zone
East Asia Zone
(p) Qualifying play-off participants

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).[12]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying play-off Round 1 N/A 2 February 2014
Round 2 8 February 2014
Round 3 15 February 2014
Group stage Matchday 1 10 December 2013[13] 25–26 February 2014
Matchday 2 11–12 March 2014
Matchday 3 18–19 March 2014
Matchday 4 1–2 April 2014
Matchday 5 15–16 April 2014
Matchday 6 22–23 April 2014
Knock-out stage Round of 16 6–7 May 2014 13–14 May 2014
Quarter-finals 28 May 2014[14] 19–20 August 2014 26–27 August 2014
Semi-finals 16–17 September 2014 30 September–1 October 2014
Final 25 October 2014 1 November 2014

On 25 November 2013, the AFC Competitions Committee proposed to continue to play the final over two legs on a home-and-away basis (instead of reverting to playing the final as a single match as original proposed),[4][15] and to split the competition on zonal basis to guarantee an East vs West final for the next three years.[16]

Qualifying play-off
Main article: 2014 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off

The bracket for the qualifying play-off was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with teams from the higher-ranked associations entering at later rounds.[8] Teams from the same association may not play each other in the qualifying play-off.[17] 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 round 3 advanced to the group stage to join the 28 automatic qualifiers. All losers of each round from associations with only play-off slots entered the 2014 AFC Cup group stage.[2]

Round 1
Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia Zone
Al-Suwaiq 0–1 Al-Qadsia
Shabab Al-Ordon 1–3 (a.e.t.) Al-Hidd
Al-Kuwait 1–0 Al-Shorta
East Asia Zone
Tampines Rovers 1–2 (a.e.t.) South China
Pune 0–3 Hà Nội T&T

Round 2
Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia Zone
Baniyas 0–4 Al-Qadsia
El Jaish 5–1 Nasaf Qarshi
Lekhwiya 2–1 Al-Hidd
Lokomotiv Tashkent 1–3 Al-Kuwait
East Asia Zone
Chonburi 3–0 South China
Muangthong United 2–0 Hà Nội T&T

Round 3
Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia Zone
El Jaish 3–0 Al-Qadsia
Lekhwiya 4–1 Al-Kuwait
East Asia Zone
Beijing Guoan 4–0 Chonburi
Melbourne Victory 2–1 Muangthong United

Group stage
Main article: 2014 AFC Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2013.[18] 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:[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
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SHB JAZ EST RAY
1 Al-Shabab 6 5 0 1 12 8 +4 15 Advance to knockout stage — 1–3 2–1 4–3
2 Al-Jazira 6 3 1 2 12 10 +2 10 1–2 — 0–1 3–2
3 Esteghlal 6 2 1 3 7 7 0 7 0–1 2–2 — 3–1
4 Al-Rayyan 6 1 0 5 9 15 −6 3 0–2 2–3 1–0 —
Source:

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification FLD BUN JSH FAT
1 Foolad 6 4 2 0 11 3 +8 14 Advance to knockout stage — 1–0 3–1 1–0
2 Bunyodkor 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 — 1–2 3–2
3 El Jaish 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8[lower-alpha 1] 0–0 1–2 — 2–0
4 Al-Fateh 6 0 2 4 3 11 −8 2 1–5 0–0 0–0 —
Source:
Notes:
  1. Tiebreakers: Bunyodkor and El-Jaish are tied on head-to-head record and overall goal difference, and so are ranked on overall goals scored.
Tiebreakers
  • Bunyodkor and El-Jaish are tied on head-to-head record and overall goal difference, and so are ranked on overall goals scored.

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AIN ITT LEK TRA
1 Al-Ain 6 3 2 1 14 7 +7 11 Advance to knockout stage — 1–1 2–1 3–1
2 Al-Ittihad 6 3 1 2 8 6 +2 10 2–1 — 3–1 2–0
3 Lekhwiya 6 2 1 3 5 10 −5 7 0–5 2–0 — 0–0
4 Tractor Sazi 6 1 2 3 4 8 −4 5 2–2 1–0 0–1 —
Source:

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification HIL SAD AHL SEP
1 Al-Hilal 6 2 3 1 12 7 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage — 5–0 2–2 1–0
2 Al-Sadd 6 2 2 2 8 14 −6 8 2–2 — 2–1 3–1
3 Al-Ahli 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7 0–0 1–1 — 0–0
4 Sepahan 6 2 1 3 9 8 +1 7 3–2 4–0 1–2 —
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Al-Ahli and Sepahan are ranked on head-to-head record.

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification POH CER BUR SHD
1 Pohang Steelers 6 3 3 0 11 6 +5 12 Advance to knockout stage — 1–1 0–0 2–2
2 Cerezo Osaka 6 2 2 2 10 9 +1 8 0–2 — 4–0 1–3
3 Buriram United 6 1 3 2 5 9 −4 6 1–2 2–2 — 1–0
4 Shandong Luneng Taishan 6 1 2 3 9 11 −2 5 2–4 1–2 1–1 —
Source:

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SEO HIR BEI CCM
1 FC Seoul 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 11 Advance to knockout stage — 2–2 2–1 2–0
2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 2–1 — 1–1 1–0
3 Beijing Guoan 6 1 3 2 7 8 −1 6 1–1 2–2 — 2–1
4 Central Coast Mariners 6 2 0 4 4 7 −3 6 0–1 2–1 1–0 —
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Beijing Guoan and Central Coast Mariners are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GUA JEO MEL YFM
1 Guangzhou Evergrande 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10 Advance to knockout stage — 3–1 4–2 2–1
2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8 1–0 — 0–0 3–0
3 Melbourne Victory 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8 2–0 2–2 — 1–0
4 Yokohama F. Marinos 6 2 1 3 7 10 −3 7 1–1 2–1 3–2 —
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Melbourne Victory are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification WSW KAW ULS GUI
1 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 4 0 2 11 5 +6 12 Advance to knockout stage — 1–0 1–3 5–0
2 Kawasaki Frontale 6 4 0 2 7 5 +2 12 2–1 — 3–1 1–0
3 Ulsan Hyundai 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7 0–2 2–0 — 1–1
4 Guizhou Renhe 6 1 1 4 4 10 −6 4 0–1 0–1 3–1 —
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Western Sydney Wanderers and Kawasaki Frontale are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Knockout stage
Main article: 2014 AFC Champions League knock-out stage

In the knock-out 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.[2]

Bracket
  Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                                             
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1 0 1  
Pohang Steelers 2 1 3  
  Pohang Steelers 0 0 0 (0)  
  FC Seoul (p) 0 0 0 (3)  
Kawasaki Frontale 2 2 4
FC Seoul (a) 3 1 4  
  FC Seoul 0 0 0  
  Western Sydney Wanderers 0 2 2  
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3 0 3  
Western Sydney Wanderers (a) 1 2 3  
  Western Sydney Wanderers (a) 1 1 2
  Guangzhou Evergrande 0 2 2  
Cerezo Osaka 1 1 2
Guangzhou Evergrande 5 0 5  
  Western Sydney Wanderers 1 0 1
  Al-Hilal 0 0 0
Bunyodkor 0 0 0  
Al-Hilal 1 3 4  
  Al-Hilal 1 0 1
  Al-Sadd 0 0 0  
Al-Sadd (a) 0 2 2
Foolad 0 2 2  
  Al-Hilal 3 1 4
  Al-Ain 0 2 2  
Al-Jazira 1 1 2  
Al-Ain 2 2 4  
  Al-Ain 2 3 5
  Al-Ittihad 0 1 1  
Al-Ittihad 1 3 4
Al-Shabab 0 1 1  

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 Zone
Al-Ittihad 4–1 Al-Shabab 1–0 3–1
Al-Jazira 2–4 Al-Ain 1–2 1–2
Al-Sadd 2–2 (a) Foolad 0–0 2–2
Bunyodkor 0–4 Al-Hilal 0–1 0–3
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Zone
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–3 Pohang Steelers 1–2 0–1
Cerezo Osaka 2–5 Guangzhou Evergrande 1–5 1–0
Kawasaki Frontale 4–4 (a) FC Seoul 2–3 2–1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–3 (a) Western Sydney Wanderers 3–1 0–2

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 28 May 2014.[19] The "country protection" rule was not applied, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.[20]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal 1–0 Al-Sadd 1–0 0–0
Al-Ain 5–1 Al-Ittihad 2–0 3–1
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Zone
Pohang Steelers 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(0–3p)		 FC Seoul 0–0 0–0 (a.e.t.)
Western Sydney Wanderers 2–2 (a) Guangzhou Evergrande 1–0 1–2

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal 4–2 Al-Ain 3–0 1–2
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Zone
FC Seoul 0–2 Western Sydney Wanderers 0–0 0–2

Final
Main article: 2014 AFC Champions League Final

The draw to decide the order of two legs of the final was held after the quarter-final draw.[19]

Western Sydney Wanderers 1–0 Al-Hilal
Juric  64' Report
Attendance: 20,053

Western Sydney Wanderers won 1–0 on aggregate.

Awards
Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player[21] Ante Covic Western Sydney Wanderers
Top Goalscorer Asamoah Gyan Al-Ain
Fair Play Award — Al-Hilal
AFC Champions League 2014 Dream Team[22]
Starting XI
Pos. Player Team
GK Ante Covic Western Sydney Wanderers
DF Shannon Cole Western Sydney Wanderers
DF Nikolai Topor-Stanley Western Sydney Wanderers
DF Kwak Tae-Hwi Al-Hilal
DF Abdullah Al-Zori Al-Hilal
MF Nadir Belhadj Al-Sadd
MF Omar Abdulrahman Al-Ain
MF Thiago Neves Al-Hilal
MF Elkeson Guangzhou Evergrande
FW Asamoah Gyan Al-Ain
FW Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Hilal
Substitutes
GK Abdullah Al-Sudairy Al-Hilal
DF Kim Ju-Young FC Seoul
DF Cha Du-Ri FC Seoul
MF Lee Myung-Joo Al-Ain
MF Yun Il-Lok FC Seoul
FW Tomi Juric Western Sydney Wanderers

Top scorers
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 MD4 MD5 MD6 2R1 2R2 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2   F1     F2   Total
1 Asamoah Gyan Al-Ain 112121211 12
2 Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Hilal 231121 10
3 Elkeson Guangzhou Evergrande 1221 6
Mokhtar Fallatah Al-Ittihad 21111 6
Luciano Foolad 132 6
6 Kim Seung-dae Pohang Steelers 11111 5
Vágner Love Shandong Luneng Taishan 221 5
8 Abdelaziz Barrada Al-Jazira 121 4
Nadir Belhadj Al-Sadd 1111 4
Tomi Juric Western Sydney Wanderers 1111 4
Yoichiro Kakitani Cerezo Osaka 1111 4
Thiago Neves Al-Hilal 121 4
Nilmar El Jaish 211 4
Mehdi Sharifi Sepahan 112 4
Kalu Uche Al-Rayyan 112 4

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted (see regulations, Article 74c).[23]

Source:[24][25]

See also

References
  1. "Western Sydney Wanderers win AFC Champions League on aggregate". AFC. 2 November 2014.
  2. "AFC Champions League 2014 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
  3. "ACL Slots Decisions By Exco pt. 2" (PDF). AFC.
  4. "ACL base widened from 2014". AFC. 12 March 2013.
  5. "AFC MA Ranking by Technical Standard" (PDF). AFC.
  6. "Manual for points systems & decision method for AFC Champions League participation". AFC. 15 March 2013.
  7. "AFC ExCo okays ACL slots, format". AFC. 26 November 2013.
  8. "AFC Champions League 2014 and AFC Cup 2014 Competition Format – AFC Champions League & AFC Cup Play-off" (PDF). Asian Football Confederation. Vietnam Professional Football. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  9. الفهد وعقلة يطالبان الجماهير بالوقوف مع "الأصفر" و"الأبيض" للظفر ببطاقتي التأهل إلى دوري الأبطال (in Arabic). Al Rai. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-12-01.
  10. "Bahrain get AFC Champions League qualifying slot". Gulf Daily News. 29 November 2013.
  11. "Pune FC to play AFC Champions League play-off". Goal.com. 26 November 2013.
  12. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2014" (PDF). AFC.
  13. "Media accreditation open for Official Draws of 2014 AFC Champions League and AFC Cup". International Sports Press Association. 20 November 2013.
  14. "Dates set for AFC Champions League and AFC Cup 2014 Official Draw". International Sports Press Association. 26 April 2014.
  15. "Focus on ACL stability". AFC. 10 March 2013.
  16. "ACL: East vs West final proposed". AFC. 25 November 2013.
  17. "ACL Playoff Picture complete". AFC. 10 December 2013.
  18. "AFC Champions League 2014 Group Stage draw". AFC. 10 December 2013.
  19. "Holders Guangzhou face Australian debutants". AFC. 28 May 2014.
  20. "ACL 2014 KO Stage Draw Mechanics" (PDF). AFC.
  21. "Custodian Covic named Most Valuable Player". AFC. 2 November 2014.
  22. John Greco (11 November 2014). "Four Wanderers in ACL Dream Team". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  23. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2014 AFC Champions League Play-off". AFC.com.
  24. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2014 AFC Champions League Group Stage". AFC.com.
  25. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2014 AFC Champions League Knock-out Stage". AFC.com.
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