2016 AFC Champions League

2016 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	27 January – 26 November 2016
Teams	45 (from 17 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2nd title)
Runners-up	Al-Ain
Tournament statistics
Matches played	139
Goals scored	357 (2.57 per match)
Attendance	1,817,007 (13,072 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Adriano (13 goals)
Best player	Omar Abdulrahman
Fair play award	Al-Ain

The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain in the final to win their second AFC Champions League title, and qualified as the AFC representative at the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, their second appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup.^[1][2] Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but 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,^[3] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.^[4] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) 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:^[5]

• The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
  • West Zone consists of the associations from West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, except India and Maldives
  • East Zone consists of the associations from ASEAN and East Asia, plus India and Maldives
• In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
• The top 12 associations in each zone as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
• The top six associations in each zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
  • The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
  • The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots (one in play-off round, one in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).
  • The associations ranked 7th to 12th each get one play-off slot (in preliminary round 1).
• The maximum number of slots for each association 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 the AFC rankings and the implementation of club licensing regulations, on 28 November 2014.^[6][7][8]

The following table shows the slot allocation for the 2016 AFC Champions League, which are adjusted accordingly since some of the slots are unused.

Participation for 2016 AFC Champions League[9]
	Fulfills participation criteria
	Does not fulfill participation criteria

Notes

Teams

The following 45 teams from 17 associations entered the competition.^[9]

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.

Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).^[11]

Stage	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Preliminary stage	Preliminary round 1	No draw	27 January 2016
	Preliminary round 2		2 February 2016
Play-off stage	Play-off round		9 February 2016
Group stage	Matchday 1	10 December 2015[9]	23–24 February 2016
	Matchday 2		1–2 March 2016
	Matchday 3		15–16 March 2016
	Matchday 4		5–6 April 2016
	Matchday 5		19–20 April 2016
	Matchday 6		3–4 May 2016
Knockout stage	Round of 16		17–18 May 2016	24–25 May 2016
	Quarter-finals	9 June 2016[12]	23–24 August 2016	13–14 September 2016
	Semi-finals		27–28 September 2016	18–19 October 2016
	Final		19 November 2016	26 November 2016

Qualifying play-off

In the qualifying play-off, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary. The eight winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round which were from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.^[2]

The bracket of the qualifying play-off was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting each match. Teams from the same association could not be placed in the same play-off.^[13][14]

Preliminary round 1

Team 1	Score	Team 2
East Zone
Mohun Bagan	3–1	Tampines Rovers

Preliminary round 2

Team 1	Score	Team 2
East Zone
Hà Nội T&T	1–0	Kitchee
Chonburi	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Yangon United
Shandong Luneng	6–0	Mohun Bagan
Muangthong United	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–0 p)	Johor Darul Ta'zim

Play-off round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Al-Ittihad	2–1	Al-Wehdat
Naft Tehran	0–2	El Jaish
Bunyodkor	2–0	Al-Shabab
Al-Jazira	2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Al-Sadd
East Zone
Pohang Steelers	3–0	Hà Nội T&T
FC Tokyo	9–0	Chonburi
Adelaide United	1–2	Shandong Luneng
Shanghai SIPG	3–0	Muangthong United

Group stage

In the group stage, 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.^[2]

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2015, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[9] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.^[13][14]

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 (Regulations Article 11.5):[2] Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned; Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned; Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; Greater number of away goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; 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; Goal difference in all the group matches; Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches; Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play; 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); Team who belongs to the member association with the higher AFC ranking.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LOK	NAS	ITT	SEP
1	Lokomotiv Tashkent	6	2	4	0	6	3	+3	10	Knockout stage		—	0–0	1–1	1–0
2	Al-Nasr	6	2	3	1	5	4	+1	9			1–1	—	0–0	2–0
3	Al-Ittihad	6	2	3	1	9	4	+5	9			1–1	1–2	—	4–0
4	Sepahan	6	1	0	5	2	11	−9	3			0–2	2–0	0–2	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZOB	LEK	NSR	BYD
1	Zob Ahan	6	4	2	0	12	2	+10	14	Knockout stage		—	0–0	3–0	5–2
2	Lekhwiya	6	2	3	1	7	2	+5	9			0–1	—	4–0	0–0
3	Al-Nassr	6	1	2	3	5	14	−9	5			0–3	1–1	—	3–3
4	Bunyodkor	6	0	3	3	5	11	−6	3			0–0	0–2	0–1	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TRA	HIL	PAK	JAZ
1	Tractor Sazi	6	4	0	2	10	3	+7	12	Knockout stage		—	1–2	2–0	4–0
2	Al-Hilal	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11			0–2	—	4–1	1–0
3	Pakhtakor	6	3	1	2	10	9	+1	10			1–0	2–2	—	3–0
4	Al-Jazira	6	0	1	5	2	13	−11	1			0–1	1–1	1–3	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JSH	AIN	AHL	NSF
1	El Jaish	6	3	1	2	6	8	−2	10	Knockout stage		—	2–1	1–4	1–0
2	Al-Ain	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	10			1–2	—	1–0	2–0
3	Al-Ahli	6	3	0	3	10	7	+3	9			2–0	1–2	—	2–1
4	Nasaf Qarshi	6	1	2	3	4	7	−3	5			0–0	1–1	2–1	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JHM	TOK	JIA	BBD
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	6	3	1	2	13	9	+4	10	Knockout stage		—	2–1	2–2	2–0
2	FC Tokyo	6	3	1	2	8	8	0	10			0–3	—	0–0	3–1
3	Jiangsu Suning	6	2	3	1	10	7	+3	9			3–2	1–2	—	3–0
4	Becamex Bình Dương	6	1	1	4	6	13	−7	4			3–2	1–2	1–1	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEO	SHD	HIR	BUR
1	FC Seoul	6	4	1	1	17	5	+12	13	Knockout stage		—	0–0	4–1	2–1
2	Shandong Luneng	6	3	2	1	7	5	+2	11			1–4	—	1–0	3–0
3	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	6	3	0	3	9	8	+1	9			2–1	1–2	—	3–0
4	Buriram United	6	0	1	5	1	16	−15	1			0–6	0–0	0–2	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SSI	MEL	SSB	GAM
1	Shanghai SIPG	6	4	0	2	10	8	+2	12	Knockout stage		—	3–1	2–1	2–1
2	Melbourne Victory	6	2	3	1	7	7	0	9			2–1	—	0–0	2–1
3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	2	3	1	7	4	+3	9			3–0	1–1	—	0–0
4	Gamba Osaka	6	0	2	4	4	9	−5	2			0–2	1–1	1–2	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SYD	URA	GZE	POH
1	Sydney FC	6	3	1	2	4	4	0	10	Knockout stage		—	0–0	2–1	1–0
2	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	2	3	1	6	4	+2	9			2–0	—	1–0	1–1
3	Guangzhou Evergrande	6	2	2	2	6	5	+1	8			1–0	2–2	—	0–0
4	Pohang Steelers	6	1	2	3	2	5	−3	5			0–1	1–0	0–2	—

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.^[2]

Bracket

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	FC Tokyo	2	0	2
	Shanghai SIPG (a)	1	1	2
							Shanghai SIPG	0	0	0
							Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0	5	5
	Melbourne Victory	1	1	2
	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	2	3
													Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4	1	5
												FC Seoul	1	2	3
	Urawa Red Diamonds	1	2	3 (6)
	FC Seoul (p)	0	3	3 (7)
							FC Seoul	3	1	4
							Shandong Luneng	1	1	2
	Shandong Luneng (a)	1	2	3
	Sydney FC	1	2	3
																		Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2	1	3
																			Al-Ain	1	1	2
	Al-Ain	1	2	3
	Zob Ahan	1	0	1
							Al-Ain	0	1	1
							Lokomotiv Tashkent	0	0	0
	Al-Hilal	0	1	1
	Lokomotiv Tashkent	0	2	2
													Al-Ain	3	2	5
												El Jaish	1	2	3
	Lekhwiya	0	4	4
	El Jaish	4	2	6
							El Jaish (1st leg awd.)	3	1	4
							Al-Nasr	0	0	0
	Al-Nasr	4	1	5
	Tractor Sazi	1	3	4

Round of 16

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.^[14]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal	1–2	Lokomotiv Tashkent	0–0	1–2
Al-Nasr	5–4	Tractor Sazi	4–1	1–3
Al-Ain	3–1	Zob Ahan	1–1	2–0
Lekhwiya	4–6	El Jaish	0–4	4–2
East Zone
Melbourne Victory	2–3	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–1	1–2
FC Tokyo	2–2 (a)	Shanghai SIPG	2–1	0–1
Urawa Red Diamonds	3–3 (6–7 p)	FC Seoul	1–0	2–3 (a.e.t.)
Shandong Luneng	3–3 (a)	Sydney FC	1–1	2–2

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.^[15]

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 9 June 2016, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[12] There was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.^[15]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Ain	1–0	Lokomotiv Tashkent	0–0	1–0
El Jaish	4–0	Al-Nasr	3–0 (awd.)[I]	1–0
East Zone
Shanghai SIPG	0–5	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0–0	0–5
FC Seoul	4–2	Shandong Luneng	3–1	1–1

Notes

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone played each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone played each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.^[15]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Ain	5–3	El Jaish	3–1	2–2
East Zone
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	5–3	FC Seoul	4–1	1–2

Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs reversed from the previous season's final, with the team from the East Zone hosting the first leg, and the team from the West Zone hosting the second leg.^[15]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 3–2 on aggregate.

Winners

AFC Champions League 2016 Winners
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Second Title

Awards

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Omar Abdulrahman[17]	Al-Ain
Top Goalscorer	Adriano[18]	FC Seoul
Fair Play Award	—	Al-Ain[17]

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	2R1	2R2	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Adriano	FC Seoul	4	3	2			1		1	1			1			13
2	Leonardo	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors						1	1	2		2	2		2		10
3	Romarinho	El Jaish	1						2	1		1		2			7
4	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul	1		1		1			1	1						5
	Douglas	Al-Ain	1			2			1				1				5
	Igor Sergeev	Pakhtakor	1	1	1		2										5
	Lee Dong-gook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	1	1							2					5
	Wu Lei	Shanghai SIPG	1	1		1			1	1							5
9	Danilo Moreno Asprilla	Al-Ain					1	1		1					1		4
	Besart Berisha	Melbourne Victory	1					1	1	1							4
	Elkeson	Shanghai SIPG		1	2		1										4
	Abderrazak Hamdallah	El Jaish	1	1			1		1								4
	Jô	Jiangsu Suning		1		1	1	1									4
	Nguyễn Anh Đức	Becamex Bình Dương	1	1		2											4
	Diego Tardelli	Shandong Luneng	1	1			1		1								4

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-off are not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4).^[2]

Source: the-AFC.com^[19][20][21]

Controversies

On 25 January 2016, the AFC announced changes to the group stage schedule due to Saudi Arabia's refusal to play in Iran.^[22] After the changes, all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia (including possible play-off winners) were rescheduled to be played on matchdays 5 and 6 (19–20 April and 3–4 May). The venues of these matches would be decided after an evaluation deadline of 15 March 2016. As there had not been a return to normal relations between the two countries by then with Saudi Arabia refusing to lift their travel restrictions to Iran, the AFC accepted the Saudi Arabian Football Federation's proposal of playing all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia in neutral venues.^[23] The Saudi Arabian Football Federation supports its clubs who refuse to travel to Iran.^[24] The Iranian Football Federation has stated that it could withdraw from the AFC Champions League due to the venue changes.^[25]

See also

• 2016 AFC Cup
• 2016 FIFA Club World Cup

References

External links

• AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com