2015 AFC Champions League knockout stage

The 2015 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 19 May to 21 November 2015. A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2015 AFC Champions League.[1]

Qualified teams

The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage qualified for the knockout stage. Both West Zone and East Zone had eight teams qualified.

Zone Group Winners Runners-up
West Zone
(Groups A–D)		 A Qatar Lekhwiya Iran Persepolis
B United Arab Emirates Al-Ain Iran Naft Tehran
C Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal Qatar Al-Sadd
D Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
East Zone
(Groups E–H)		 E Japan Kashiwa Reysol South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
F Japan Gamba Osaka South Korea Seongnam FC
G China Beijing Guoan South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings
H China Guangzhou Evergrande South Korea FC Seoul

Format

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.[1]

Schedule

The schedule of each round was as follows.[2]

Round First leg Second leg
Round of 16 19–20 May 2015 26–27 May 2015
Quarter-finals 25–26 August 2015 15–16 September 2015
Semi-finals 29–30 September 2015 20–21 October 2015
Final 7 November 2015 21 November 2015

Bracket

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.[1] The matchups are determined as follows:

West Zone
  • Winner Group A vs. Runner-up Group C
  • Winner Group C vs. Runner-up Group A
  • Winner Group B vs. Runner-up Group D
  • Winner Group D vs. Runner-up Group B
East Zone
  • Winner Group E vs. Runner-up Group G
  • Winner Group G vs. Runner-up Group E
  • Winner Group F vs. Runner-up Group H
  • Winner Group H vs. Runner-up Group F

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 June 2015, 16:00 UTC+8, at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[3] Teams from different zones could not be drawn into the same tie, and there was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.[4]

In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined by the quarter-final draw: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2 (West Zone) and Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4 (East Zone), with winners QF2 and QF4 hosting the second leg.[4]

In the final, the finalist from the West Zone hosted the first leg, while the finalist from the East Zone hosted the second leg (no draw was held to determine the order of legs, as it was reversed from the previous season's final).[4]

  Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                                             
 Iran Persepolis 1 0 1  
 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 0 3 3  
   Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 4 2 6  
   Qatar Lekhwiya 1 2 3  
 Qatar Al-Sadd 1 2 3
 Qatar Lekhwiya 2 2 4  
   Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 1 2 3  
   United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 1 3 4  
 Iran Naft Tehran (a) 1 1 2  
 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli 0 2 2  
   Iran Naft Tehran 0 1 1
   United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 1 2 3  
 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli (a) 0 3 3
 United Arab Emirates Al-Ain 0 3 3  
   United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 0 0 0
   China Guangzhou Evergrande 0 1 1
 South Korea Suwon Bluewings 2 2 4  
 Japan Kashiwa Reysol (a) 3 1 4  
   Japan Kashiwa Reysol 1 1 2
   China Guangzhou Evergrande 3 1 4  
 South Korea Seongnam FC 2 0 2
 China Guangzhou Evergrande 1 2 3  
   China Guangzhou Evergrande 2 0 2
   Japan Gamba Osaka 1 0 1  
 South Korea Jeonbuk Motors 1 1 2  
 China Beijing Guoan 1 0 1  
   South Korea Jeonbuk Motors 0 2 2
   Japan Gamba Osaka 0 3 3  
 South Korea FC Seoul 1 2 3
 Japan Gamba Osaka 3 3 6  

Round of 16

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Sadd Qatar 3–4 Qatar Lekhwiya 1–2 2–2
Persepolis Iran 1–3 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 1–0 0–3
Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates 3–3 (a) United Arab Emirates Al-Ain 0–0 3–3
Naft Tehran Iran 2–2 (a) Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli 1–0 1–2
East Zone
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea 4–4 (a) Japan Kashiwa Reysol 2–3 2–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea 2–1 China Beijing Guoan 1–1 1–0
FC Seoul South Korea 3–6 Japan Gamba Osaka 1–3 2–3
Seongnam FC South Korea 2–3 China Guangzhou Evergrande 2–1 0–2

First leg

19 May 2015
19:30 UTC+4:30
Persepolis Iran 1–0 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Digão  90+2' (o.g.) Report

19 May 2015
19:15 UTC+3
Al-Sadd Qatar 1–2 Qatar Lekhwiya
Al Haidos  37' Report Soria  13'
Msakni  36'

20 May 2015
19:30 UTC+9
Seongnam FC South Korea 2–1 China Guangzhou Evergrande
Jorginho  23'
Kim Do-heon  90+5' (pen.)		 Report Huang Bowen  42'
Tancheon Sports Complex, Seongnam
Attendance: 13,792
Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)

20 May 2015
19:30 UTC+9
FC Seoul South Korea 1–3 Japan Gamba Osaka
Yun Ju-tae  90+2' Report Usami  63', 86'
Yonekura  74'

20 May 2015
20:00 UTC+4:30
Naft Tehran Iran 1–0 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
Rezaei  34' Report
Azadi Stadium, Tehran
Attendance: 13,370
Referee: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan)

20 May 2015
19:45 UTC+4
Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates 0–0 United Arab Emirates Al-Ain
Report
Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai
Attendance: 8,900
Referee: Ko Hyung-jin (South Korea)

Second leg

4–4 on aggregate. Kashiwa Reysol won on away goals.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 2–1 on aggregate.

26 May 2015
19:00 UTC+3
Lekhwiya Qatar 2–2 Qatar Al-Sadd
Msakni  13'
Mohammad  83'		 Report Muriqui  36'
Assadalla  63'

Lekhwiya won 4–3 on aggregate.

Al-Hilal won 3–1 on aggregate.

27 May 2015
19:00 UTC+9
Gamba Osaka Japan 3–2 South Korea FC Seoul
Patric  16'
Kurata  45'
Lins  86'		 Report Yun Ju-tae  58', 90+2'
Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
Attendance: 9,597
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Gamba Osaka won 6–3 on aggregate.

Guangzhou Evergrande won 3–2 on aggregate.

27 May 2015
19:50 UTC+4
Al-Ain United Arab Emirates 3–3 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
Gyan  5', 78'
Eisa  90+2'		 Report Khamis  51'
Khalil  53', 56'

3–3 on aggregate. Al-Ahli won on away goals.

27 May 2015
20:45 UTC+3
Al-Ahli Saudi Arabia 2–1 Iran Naft Tehran
Al Soma  36', 42' Report Padovani  31'

2–2 on aggregate. Naft Tehran won on away goals.

Quarter-finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia 6–3 Qatar Lekhwiya 4–1 2–2
Naft Tehran Iran 1–3 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 0–1 1–2
East Zone
Kashiwa Reysol Japan 2–4 China Guangzhou Evergrande 1–3 1–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea 2–3 Japan Gamba Osaka 0–0 2–3

First leg

25 August 2015
20:50 UTC+3
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia 4–1 Qatar Lekhwiya
Aílton  11'
Kaabi  34'
Eduardo  36', 86'		 Report Msakni  17'

26 August 2015
19:00 UTC+4:30
Naft Tehran Iran 0–1 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
Report Lima  62'
Azadi Stadium, Tehran
Attendance: 23,300
Referee: Minoru Tōjō (Japan)
Notes
  1. ^ Al-Hilal played their quarter-final home match behind closed doors due to crowd trouble.[5]

Second leg

Guangzhou Evergrande won 4–2 on aggregate.

15 September 2015
19:00 UTC+3
Lekhwiya Qatar 2–2 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Mohammad  45+2'
Flores  72'		 Report Eduardo  26'
Digão  87'

Al-Hilal won 6–3 on aggregate.

Gamba Osaka won 3–2 on aggregate.

16 September 2015
20:25 UTC+4
Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates 2–1 Iran Naft Tehran
Lima  26'
Khalil  48' (pen.)		 Report Amiri  50'

Al-Ahli won 3–1 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia 3–4 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli 1–1 2–3
East Zone
Guangzhou Evergrande China 2–1 Japan Gamba Osaka 2–1 0–0

First leg

29 September 2015
20:15 UTC+3
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia 1–1 United Arab Emirates Al-Ahli
Aílton  82' Report Lima  57'

Second leg

20 October 2015
19:45 UTC+4
Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates 3–2 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Lima  17'
Ribeiro  45'
Kwon Kyung-won  90+5'		 Report Aílton  51'
Eduardo  64'
Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai
Attendance: 9,800
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Al-Ahli won 4–3 on aggregate.

Guangzhou Evergrande won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Ahli United Arab Emirates 0–1 China Guangzhou Evergrande 0–0 0–1

Guangzhou Evergrande won 1–0 on aggregate.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "AFC Champions League 2015 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC.
  2. ↑ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2015" (PDF). AFC.
  3. ↑ "Al Hilal to face Lekhwiya in ACL quarter-finals". AFC. 18 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "ACL quarter-finalists to learn opponents on Thursday". AFC. 16 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "ACL clubs sanctioned for crowd disturbances". AFC. 16 June 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.