2011 AFC Champions League

The AFC approved criteria for participation in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.^[1] The final decision date was set after the Executive Committee meeting in November 2010.^[2]

On 30 November 2009, the AFC announced 12 more MA's that were keen to join the ACL, in addition to ten participating national associations. Singapore later withdrew. The full list of candidate associations were as follows:

East Asia

• Already participating: Australia, China PR, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic
• Keen to participate: Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand
• Withdrew: Singapore^[3]
• Disqualified: Vietnam^[4]

West Asia

• Already participating: Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan
• Keen to participate: Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Tajikistan, Yemen, India

Note: Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and India have clubs taking part in play-offs to qualify for the group stages of ACL in 2010.

The allocation for entry to the 2011 ACL stayed the same as the previous two seasons with the exception of Vietnam who were disqualified and their previous playoff slot was awarded to Qatar.^[4]

	Meet the criteria
	Do not meet the criteria

East Asia

Member Association	Clubs	Spots
		Group stage	Play-off	AFC Cup
Japan	18	4	0	0
Korea Republic	15*	4	0	0
China PR	16	4	0	0
Australia	9+1**	2	0	0
Indonesia	18	1	1	1
Thailand	18	0	1	1
Vietnam	14	0	0	2
Singapore	12	0	0	1
Malaysia	14	0	0	0
Myanmar	12	0	0	0

^* One of the K-League clubs, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, is unable to qualify for the ACL because the team is not a commercial entity and their players are not professionally contracted.^[4]

^** One of the A-League clubs, Wellington Phoenix, is based in New Zealand, an OFC member country. They are unable to qualify for the ACL.^[5]

The finalists of the 2010 AFC Cup also participated in the play-off, provided that they meet the Champions League criteria.

The following is the list of direct entrants for the group stage confirmed by the AFC.^[6]

Group stage direct entrants: East Asia (Groups E–H)
Team	Qualifying method	App*	Last App
Nagoya Grampus	2010 J. League Division 1 champions	2nd	2009
Kashima Antlers	2010 Emperor's Cup winners	5th	2010
Gamba Osaka	2010 J. League Division 1 runners-up	5th	2010
Cerezo Osaka	2010 J. League Division 1 3rd place	1st	none
Shandong Luneng Taishan	2010 Chinese Super League champions	5th	2010
Tianjin Teda	2010 Chinese Super League runners-up	2nd	2009
Shanghai Shenhua	2010 Chinese Super League 3rd place	6th	2009
Hangzhou Greentown	2010 Chinese Super League 4th place	1st	none
FC Seoul	2010 K-League champions	2nd	2009
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2010 Korean FA Cup winners	4th	2010
Jeju United	2010 K-League runners-up	1st	none
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2010 K-League 3rd place	5th	2010
Sydney FC	2009–10 A-League premiers 2010 A-League Grand Final winners	2nd	2007
Melbourne Victory	2009–10 A-League regular season runners-up	3rd	2010
Arema	2009–10 Indonesia Super League champions	2nd	2007

* Number of appearances (including qualifying rounds) since the 2002/03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League

The following is the list of participants for the playoff stage confirmed by the AFC.^[7] The committee further proposed that one team be shifted by the means of a draw from the West to the East for sake of balance.

Qualifying play-off participants: East Asia
Team	Qualifying method	App*	Last App
Sriwijaya	2010 Piala Indonesia winners	3rd	2010
Muangthong United	2010 Thai Premier League champions	2nd	2010

Schedule of dates for 2011 competition.^[8]

The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010.^[9] In order to create balance another draw was held, moving one of the teams (Al-Ain) from the West into the East side of the play-offs.^[10]

The two winners from the qualifying play-off (one from West Asia and one from East Asia) advanced to the group stage. All losers from the qualifying play-off entered the 2011 AFC Cup group stage.^[11]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Semi-final
Al-Sadd	5–1	Al-Ittihad
Final
Al-Sadd	2–0	Dempo

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Semi-final
Sriwijaya	2–2 (aet)(7–6p)	Muangthong United
Final
Sriwijaya	0–4	Al-Ain

The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010.^[9][12] Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group.^[10] The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.^[11]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEP	HIL	GHA	JAZ
1	Sepahan	6	4	1	1	14	5	+9	13[a]	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	2–0	5–1
2	Al-Hilal	6	4	1	1	11	6	+5	13[a]			1–2	—	2–0	3–1
3	Al-Gharafa	6	2	1	3	6	7	−1	7			1–0	0–1	—	5–2
4	Al-Jazira	6	0	1	5	7	20	−13	1			1–4	2–3	0–0	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SAD	NAS	EST	PAK
1	Al-Sadd	6	2	4	0	8	6	+2	10	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	2–2	2–1
2	Al-Nassr	6	2	2	2	10	7	+3	8[a]			1–1	—	2–1	4–0
3	Esteghlal	6	2	2	2	11	10	+1	8[a]			1–1	2–1	—	4–2
4	Pakhtakor	6	1	2	3	8	14	−6	5			1–1	2–2	2–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ITT	BUN	WAH	PER
1	Al-Ittihad Jeddah	6	3	2	1	10	5	+5	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	0–0	3–1
2	Bunyodkor	6	2	3	1	8	6	+2	9			0–1	—	3–2	0–0
3	Al-Wahda	6	1	3	2	6	8	−2	6			0–3	1–1	—	2–0
4	Persepolis	6	1	2	3	6	11	−5	5			3–2	1–3	1–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZOB	SHA	EMI	RAY
1	Zob Ahan	6	4	1	1	7	3	+4	13	Advance to knockout stage		—	0–1	2–1	1–0
2	Al-Shabab	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	11			0–0	—	4–1	1–0
3	Emirates	6	2	0	4	6	10	−4	6			0–1	2–1	—	2–0
4	Al-Rayyan	6	1	1	4	4	8	−4	4			1–3	1–1	2–0	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GAM	TIA	JEJ	MEL
1	Gamba Osaka	6	3	1	2	13	7	+6	10[a]	Advance to knockout stage		—	2–0	3–1	5–1
2	Tianjin Teda	6	3	1	2	8	6	+2	10[a]			2–1	—	3–0	1–1
3	Jeju United	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	7			2–1	0–1	—	1–1
4	Melbourne Victory	6	1	3	2	7	11	−4	6			1–1	2–1	1–2	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEO	NAG	AIN	HAN
1	FC Seoul	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	0–2	3–0	3–0
2	Nagoya Grampus	6	3	1	2	9	6	+3	10			1–1	—	4–0	1–0
3	Al-Ain	6	2	1	3	4	9	−5	7			0–1	3–1	—	1–0
4	Hangzhou Greentown	6	1	2	3	3	6	−3	5			1–1	2–0	0–0	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JEO	CER	SHL	ARE
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	6	5	0	1	14	2	+12	15	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	1–0	6–0
2	Cerezo Osaka	6	4	0	2	11	4	+7	12			1–0	—	4–0	2–1
3	Shandong Luneng	6	2	1	3	9	8	+1	7			1–2	2–0	—	5–0
4	Arema	6	0	1	5	2	22	−20	1			0–4	0–4	1–1	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SUW	KSH	SYD	SHS
1	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	6	3	3	0	12	3	+9	12[a]	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	3–1	4–0
2	Kashima Antlers	6	3	3	0	9	3	+6	12[a]			1–1	—	2–1	2–0
3	Sydney FC	6	1	2	3	6	11	−5	5			0–0	0–3	—	1–1
4	Shanghai Shenhua	6	0	2	4	3	13	−10	2			0–3	0–0	2–3	—

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Al-Ittihad	3
	Al-Hilal	1
					Al-Ittihad	3	0	3
					FC Seoul	1	1	2
	FC Seoul	3
	Kashima Antlers	0
											Al-Ittihad	2	1	3
											Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3	2	5
	Gamba Osaka	0
	Cerezo Osaka	1
					Cerezo Osaka	4	1	5
					Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3	6	9
	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3
	Tianjin Teda	0
																	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2 (2)
																	Al-Sadd (p)	2 (4)
	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2
	Nagoya Grampus	0
					Suwon Samsung Bluewings (a.e.t.)	1	2	3
					Zob Ahan	1	1	2
	Zob Ahan	4
	Al-Nassr	1
											Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0	1	1
											Al-Sadd	2	0	2
	Sepahan	3
	Bunyodkor	1
					Sepahan	0	2	2
					Al-Sadd [A]	3	1	4
	Al-Sadd	1
	Al-Shabab	0

Based on the results from the group stage, the matchups of the round of 16 were decided as below.^[13] Each tie was played as one match, hosted by the winners of each group (Team 1) against the runners-up of another group (Team 2).^[10]

West Asia

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Sepahan	3–1	Bunyodkor
Al-Ittihad	3–1	Al-Hilal
Al-Sadd	1–0	Al-Shabab
Zob Ahan	4–1	Al-Nassr

East Asia

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Gamba Osaka	0–1	Cerezo Osaka
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3–0	Tianjin Teda
FC Seoul	3–0	Kashima Antlers
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2–0	Nagoya Grampus

The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011.^[14] In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Cerezo Osaka	5–9	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	4–3	1–6
Al-Ittihad	3–2	FC Seoul	3–1	0–1
Sepahan	2–4	Al-Sadd	0–3[A]	2–1
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3–2	Zob Ahan	1–1	2–1 (aet)

Notes

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–2	Al-Sadd	0–2	1–0
Al-Ittihad	3–5	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–3	1–2

The final of the 2011 AFC Champions League was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw.^[11] This format was a change from the 2009 and 2010 editions, where the final was played at a neutral venue.^[16]

5 November 2011

19:00 UTC+09:00

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2 – 2 (a.e.t.)	Al-Sadd
Eninho 17' Lee Seung-Hyun 90+2'	Report	Sim Woo-Yeon 30' (o.g.) Keïta 61'
Penalties
Eninho Kim Dong-Chan Park Won-Jae Kim Sang-Sik	2 – 4	Niang Al-Haydos Lee Jung-Soo Majid Belhadj

Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Attendance: 41,805

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC Champions League:^[17]

• Most Valuable Player Award: Lee Dong-Gook (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
• Top Scorer: Lee Dong-Gook (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors)
• Fair Play Award: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Note: Goals scored in qualifying round not counted.

Rank	Player	Club	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	R16	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	0 F 0	Total
1	Lee Dong-Gook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors				1	2			2	4				9
2	Eninho	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors							2		1	1	2	1	7
3	Ha Tae-Gyun	Suwon Samsung Bluewings		3			1	2							6
4	Bader Al-Mutawa	Al-Nassr	1				2	1	1						5
	Farhad Majidi	Esteghlal	1		1		2	1							5
	Dejan Damjanović	FC Seoul	1	1			2		1						5
	Ibrahima Touré	Sepahan	1	1				2	1						5
8	Yasser Al-Qahtani	Al-Hilal			1	2		1							4
	Abdelmalek Ziaya	Al-Ittihad	2		1				1						4
	Hiroshi Kiyotake	Cerezo Osaka					1	1		2					4
	Takashi Inui	Cerezo Osaka			1		2	1							4
	Rodrigo Pimpão	Cerezo Osaka	2				1	1							4
	Yeom Ki-Hun	Suwon Samsung Bluewings			1	1	1		1						4
	Igor Castro	Zob Ahan	1		1				2						4
	Mohammad Ghazi	Zob Ahan					1		1	1	1				4

• 2011 AFC Cup
• 2011 AFC President's Cup

• AFC Champions League Official Website