2014 AFC Champions League group stage

The group stage of the 2014 AFC Champions League was played from 25 February to 23 April 2014. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage.^[1]

Draw

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2013, 16:00 UTC+8, at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[2] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.

The following 32 teams (16 from West Asia Zone, 16 from East Asia Zone) were entered into the group stage draw, which included the 28 automatic qualifiers and the four qualifying play-off winners, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw:

Zone	Teams
West Asia Zone (Groups A–D)	Esteghlal Sepahan Tractor Sazi Foolad Al-Fateh Al-Ittihad Al-Hilal Al-Shabab Al-Ain Al-Ahli Al-Jazira Al-Sadd Al-Rayyan Bunyodkor Winner of play-off West 1: El Jaish Winner of play-off West 2: Lekhwiya
East Asia Zone (Groups E–H)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima Yokohama F. Marinos Kawasaki Frontale Cerezo Osaka Pohang Steelers Ulsan Hyundai Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC Seoul Guangzhou Evergrande Guizhou Renhe Shandong Luneng Taishan Western Sydney Wanderers Central Coast Mariners Buriram United Winner of play-off East 1: Beijing Guoan Winner of play-off East 2: Melbourne Victory

Format

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.

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:^[1]

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

Groups

The matchdays were 25–26 February, 11–12 March, 18–19 March, 1–2 April, 15–16 April, and 22–23 April 2014.^[3]

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Shabab 6 5 0 1 12 8 +4 15 Al-Jazira 6 3 1 2 12 10 +2 10 Esteghlal 6 2 1 3 7 7 0 7 Al-Rayyan 6 1 0 5 9 15 −6 3

JAZ RAY SHB EST Al-Jazira — 3–2 1–2 0–1 Al-Rayyan 2–3 — 0–2 1–0 Al-Shabab 1–3 4–3 — 2–1 Esteghlal 2–2 3–1 0–1 —

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Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Foolad 6 4 2 0 11 3 +8 14 Bunyodkor 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8 El Jaish 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8 Al-Fateh 6 0 2 4 3 11 −8 2

FAT BUN JSH FLD Al-Fateh — 0–0 0–0 1–5 Bunyodkor 3–2 — 1–2 1–1 El Jaish 2–0 1–2 — 0–0 Foolad 1–0 1–0 3–1 —

Tiebreakers

• Bunyodkor and El-Jaish are tied on head-to-head record and overall goal difference, and so are ranked on overall goals scored.

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Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Ain 6 3 2 1 14 7 +7 11 Al-Ittihad 6 3 1 2 8 6 +2 10 Lekhwiya 6 2 1 3 5 10 −5 7 Tractor Sazi 6 1 2 3 4 8 −4 5

AIN ITT LEK TRA Al-Ain — 1–1 2–1 3–1 Al-Ittihad 2–1 — 3–1 2–0 Lekhwiya 0–5 2–0 — 0–0 Tractor Sazi 2–2 1–0 0–1 —

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Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Hilal 6 2 3 1 12 7 +5 9 Al-Sadd 6 2 2 2 8 14 −6 8 Al-Ahli 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7 Sepahan 6 2 1 3 9 8 +1 7

AHL HIL SAD SEP Al-Ahli — 0–0 1–1 0–0 Al-Hilal 2–2 — 5–0 1–0 Al-Sadd 2–1 2–2 — 3–1 Sepahan 1–2 3–2 4–0 —

Tiebreakers

• Al-Ahli and Sepahan are ranked on head-to-head record.

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Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Pohang Steelers 6 3 3 0 11 6 +5 12 Cerezo Osaka 6 2 2 2 10 9 +1 8 Buriram United 6 1 3 2 5 9 −4 6 Shandong Luneng Taishan 6 1 2 3 9 11 −2 5

BUR CER POH SHD Buriram United — 2–2 1–2 1–0 Cerezo Osaka 4–0 — 0–2 1–3 Pohang Steelers 0–0 1–1 — 2–2 Shandong Luneng Taishan 1–1 1–2 2–4 —

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Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts FC Seoul 6 3 2 1 9 6 +3 11 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 2 3 1 9 8 +1 9 Beijing Guoan 6 1 3 2 7 8 −1 6 Central Coast Mariners 6 2 0 4 4 7 −3 6

BEI CCM SEO HIR Beijing Guoan — 2–1 1–1 2–2 Central Coast Mariners 1–0 — 0–1 2–1 FC Seoul 2–1 2–0 — 2–2 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1–1 1–0 2–1 —

Tiebreakers

• Beijing Guoan and Central Coast Mariners are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

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Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Guangzhou Evergrande 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 2 2 2 8 7 +1 8 Melbourne Victory 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8 Yokohama F. Marinos 6 2 1 3 7 10 −3 7

GUA JEO MEL YFM Guangzhou Evergrande — 3–1 4–2 2–1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–0 — 0–0 3–0 Melbourne Victory 2–0 2–2 — 1–0 Yokohama F. Marinos 1–1 2–1 3–2 —

Tiebreakers

• Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Melbourne Victory are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

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Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Western Sydney Wanderers 6 4 0 2 11 5 +6 12 Kawasaki Frontale 6 4 0 2 7 5 +2 12 Ulsan Hyundai 6 2 1 3 8 10 −2 7 Guizhou Renhe 6 1 1 4 4 10 −6 4

GUI KAW ULS WSW Guizhou Renhe — 0–1 3–1 0–1 Kawasaki Frontale 1–0 — 3–1 2–1 Ulsan Hyundai 1–1 2–0 — 0–2 Western Sydney Wanderers 5–0 1–0 1–3 —

Tiebreakers

• Western Sydney Wanderers and Kawasaki Frontale are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

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References

External links

• AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com