2013 AFC Champions League

The 2013 AFC Champions League was the 32nd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 11th under the current AFC Champions League title. The defending champions, Ulsan Hyundai, failed to qualify for the tournament.

2013 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates9 February – 9 November 2013
Teams35 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions Guangzhou Evergrande (1st title)
Runners-up FC Seoul
Third place Esteghlal F.C.

Kashiwa Reysol

(With together-ranking game was not performed)
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored342 (2.71 per match)
Attendance1,996,166 (15,843 per match)
Top scorer(s) Muriqui
(13 goals)
Best player(s) Muriqui

In the final, Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande defeated South Korean team FC Seoul on away goals to win their first title,[1] becoming the first Chinese team to win the AFC Champions League (and the second Chinese team to be crowned Asian club champions after Liaoning FC), and qualified for the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.[2]

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 2012, and the final decision to be made by the AFC in November 2012.[3]

The following criteria for participation in the AFC Champions League were proposed by the AFC in July 2012:[4]

  • The member association (MA) has to acquire a minimum number of 600 points out of a possible 1000 according to the AFC evaluating system to qualify for participation.
  • The slots for each eligible MA are decided based on the points ranking of the MAs:
    • 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 one play-off slot.
    • The fifth-ranked MAs get one direct and one play-off slot.
    • The sixth, seventh and eighth-ranked MAs get only a play-off slot each.
  • 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).

On 29 November 2012, the AFC Executive Committee approved the slots for the 2013 edition of the AFC Champions League.[5] However, this final allocation of slots did not fully follow the proposal above.[6]

Evaluation for 2013 AFC Champions League
Fulfills criteria (> 600 points)
Does not fulfill criteria, but allocated slots
Does not fulfill criteria, not allocated slots
Notes
  1. ^ a b c
    One of the two group stage direct entrants from Uzbekistan was moved to the East Asia Zone.

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.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).[7]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying play-off Round 1 6 December 2012[8] 9 February 2013
Group stage Matchday 1 26–27 February 2013
Matchday 2 12–13 March 2013
Matchday 3 2–3 April 2013
Matchday 4 9–10 April 2013
Matchday 5 23–24 April 2013
Matchday 6 30 April–1 May 2013
Knock-out stage Round of 16 14–15 May 2013 21–22 May 2013
Quarter-finals 20 June 2013[9] 21 August 2013 18 September 2013
Semi-finals 25 September 2013 2 October 2013
Final 25 or 26 October 2013 8 or 9 November 2013

Format changes

The following changes in the format of the competition were made compared with the previous year:

  • Losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off did not participate in the AFC Cup.
  • The round of 16 was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis instead of as a single match.[5]
  • The final was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis instead of as a single match.[10]

Qualifying play-off
Main article: 2013 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off

The draw for the qualifying play-off was held on 6 December 2012.[11] Each tie was played as a single match, with extra time and penalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if necessary. The winners of each tie advanced to the group stage to join the 29 automatic qualifiers.[2]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia Zone
Saba Qom 1–1
(aet)(3–5p)		 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi
Al-Nasr 3–2 Lokomotiv Tashkent
East Asia Zone
Buriram United 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–0p)[B]		 Brisbane Roar
Notes
  1. ^
    Brisbane Roar was given home advantage in the original draw, but the match was later switched to be hosted by Buriram United per agreement between the two teams due to rescheduling of the match from the original date.[12]

Group stage
Main article: 2013 AFC Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2012.[11] 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 tie, 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 JSH JAZ TRA
1 Al-Shabab 6 4 1 1 7 5 +2 13 Advanced to Round of 16 2–0 2–1 1–0
2 El Jaish 6 3 2 1 14 9 +5 11 3–0 3–1 3–3
3 Al-Jazira 6 1 2 3 7 10 −3 5 1–1 1–1 2–0
4 Tractor Sazi 6 1 1 4 8 12 −4 4 0–1 2–4 3–1
Source:

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LEK SHA ETT PAK
1 Lekhwiya 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11 Advanced to Round of 16 2–1 2–0 3–1
2 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 6 3 0 3 8 9 −1 9 3–1 1–0 0–1
3 Al-Ettifaq 6 2 1 3 6 5 +1 7 0–0 4–1 2–0
4 Pakhtakor 6 2 1 3 6 9 −3 7 2–2 1–2 1–0
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Al-Ettifaq are ranked ahead of Pakhtakor on head-to-head record.

Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification AHL GHA SEP NAS
1 Al-Ahli 6 4 2 0 16 8 +8 14 Advanced to Round of 16 2–0 4–1 2–2
2 Al-Gharafa 6 3 1 2 13 11 +2 10 2–2 3–1 3–1
3 Sepahan 6 3 0 3 12 13 −1 9 2–4 3–1 3–0
4 Al-Nasr 6 0 1 5 7 16 −9 1 1–2 2–4 1–2
Source:

Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EST HIL AIN RAY
1 Esteghlal 6 4 1 1 11 5 +6 13 Advanced to Round of 16 0–1 2–0 3–0
2 Al-Hilal 6 4 0 2 10 6 +4 12 1–2 2–0 3–1
3 Al-Ain 6 2 0 4 6 9 −3 6 0–1 3–1 2–1
4 Al-Rayyan 6 1 1 4 7 14 −7 4 3–3 0–2 2–1
Source:

Group E
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SEO BUR JIA SEN
1 FC Seoul 6 3 2 1 11 5 +6 11 Advanced to Round of 16 2–2 5–1 2–1
2 Buriram United 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7 0–0 2–0 1–1
3 Jiangsu Sainty 6 2 1 3 5 10 −5 7 0–2 2–0 0–0
4 Vegalta Sendai 6 1 3 2 5 6 −1 6 1–0 1–1 1–2
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Buriram United and Jiangsu Sainty are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Group F
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification GUA JEO URA MUA
1 Guangzhou Evergrande 6 3 2 1 14 5 +9 11 Advanced to Round of 16 0–0 3–0 4–0
2 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 2 4 0 10 6 +4 10 1–1 2–2 2–0
3 Urawa Red Diamonds 6 3 1 2 11 11 0 10 3–2 1–3 4–1
4 Muangthong United 6 0 1 5 4 17 −13 1 1–4 2–2 0–1
Source:
Tiebreakers
  • Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are ranked ahead of Urawa Red Diamonds on head-to-head record.

Group G
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification BUN BEI POH HIR
1 Bunyodkor 6 2 4 0 6 3 +3 10 Advanced to Round of 16 0–0 2–2 0–0
2 Beijing Guoan 6 2 3 1 4 2 +2 9 0–1 2–0 2–1
3 Pohang Steelers 6 1 4 1 5 6 −1 7 1–1 0–0 1–1
4 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 0 3 3 2 6 −4 3 0–2 0–0 0–1
Source:

Group H
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification KSW CCM GUI SUW
1 Kashiwa Reysol 6 4 2 0 14 4 +10 14 Advanced to Round of 16 3–1 1–1 0–0
2 Central Coast Mariners 6 2 1 3 5 9 −4 7 0–3 2–1 0–0
3 Guizhou Renhe 6 1 3 2 6 7 −1 6 0–1 2–1 2–2
4 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 6 0 4 2 4 9 −5 4 2–6 0–1 0–0
Source:

Knockout stage

In the knock-out stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament. 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
                                             
El Jaish 1 0 1  
Al-Ahli 1 2 3  
  Al-Ahli 1 0 1  
  FC Seoul 1 1 2  
Beijing Guoan 0 1 1
FC Seoul 0 3 3  
  FC Seoul 2 2 4  
  Esteghlal 0 2 2  
Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 2 0 2  
Esteghlal 4 0 4  
  Esteghlal 1 2 3
  Buriram United 0 1 1  
Buriram United 2 0 2
Bunyodkor 1 0 1  
  FC Seoul 2 1 3
  Guangzhou Evergrande(a) 2 1 3
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 2 2  
Kashiwa Reysol 2 3 5  
  Kashiwa Reysol (a) 1 2 3
  Al-Shabab 1 2 3  
Al-Gharafa 1 0 1
Al-Shabab 2 3 5  
  Kashiwa Reysol 1 0 1
  Guangzhou Evergrande 4 4 8  
Central Coast Mariners 1 0 1  
Guangzhou Evergrande 2 3 5  
  Guangzhou Evergrande 2 4 6
  Lekhwiya 0 1 1  
Al-Hilal 0 2 2
Lekhwiya 1 2 3  

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 Asia Zone
Al-Gharafa 1–5 Al-Shabab 1–2 0–3
El Jaish 1–3 Al-Ahli 1–1 0–2
Al-Hilal 2–3 Lekhwiya 0–1 2–2
Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 2–4 Esteghlal 2–4 0–0
East Asia Zone
Beijing Guoan 1–3 FC Seoul 0–0 1–3
Buriram United 2−1 Bunyodkor 2–1 0−0
Central Coast Mariners 1–5 Guangzhou Evergrande 1–2 0–3
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2–5 Kashiwa Reysol 0–2 2–3

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final (to decide the order of two legs) was held on 20 June 2013.[13] In this draw, teams from different zones could play each other, and the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two teams from the same association, they may not play each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two teams from the same association, they may play each other in the quarter-finals.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Ahli 1–2 FC Seoul 1–1 0–1
Esteghlal 3–1 Buriram United 1–0 2–1
Kashiwa Reysol 3–3 (a) Al-Shabab 1–1 2–2
Guangzhou Evergrande 6–1 Lekhwiya 2–0 4–1

Semi-finals
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
FC Seoul 4–2 Esteghlal 2–0 2–2
Kashiwa Reysol 1–8 Guangzhou Evergrande 1–4 0–4

Final
Main article: 2013 AFC Champions League Final
FC Seoul 2–2 Guangzhou Evergrande
Escudero  11'
Damjanović  83'		 Report Elkeson  30'
Gao Lin  58'
Attendance: 55,501
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
Guangzhou Evergrande 1–1 FC Seoul
Elkeson  58' Report Damjanović  63'
Attendance: 55,847

3–3 on aggregate. Guangzhou Evergrande won on away goals.

Awards
Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player[14] Muriqui Guangzhou Evergrande
Top Goalscorer[15] Muriqui Guangzhou Evergrande
AFC Champions League 2013 Dream Team[16]
Starting XI
Pos. Player Team
GK Kim Yong-Dae FC Seoul
DF Zhang Linpeng Guangzhou Evergrande
DF Hanif Omranzadeh Esteghlal
DF Daisuke Suzuki Kashiwa Reysol
DF Sun Xiang Guangzhou Evergrande
MF Zheng Zhi Guangzhou Evergrande
MF Darío Conca Guangzhou Evergrande
MF Javad Nekounam Esteghlal
FW Muriqui Guangzhou Evergrande
FW Dejan Damjanović FC Seoul
FW Elkeson Guangzhou Evergrande
Substitutes
GK Takanori Sugeno Kashiwa Reysol
DF Kwak Tae-Hwi Al-Shabab
DF Theeraton Bunmathan Buriram United
DF Kim Jin-Kyu FC Seoul
MF Ha Dae-Sung FC Seoul
MF Jorge Wagner Kashiwa Reysol
FW Masato Kudo Kashiwa Reysol

Top scorers
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 MD4 MD5 MD6 2R1 2R2 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2   F1     F2   Total
1 Muriqui Guangzhou Evergrande 1112111122 13
2 Darío Conca Guangzhou Evergrande 211121 8
3 Dejan Damjanović FC Seoul 211111 7
Wagner Ribeiro El Jaish 223 7
5 Elkeson Guangzhou Evergrande 12111 6
Masato Kudo Kashiwa Reysol 21111 6
7 Mustafa Al-Bassas Al-Ahli 121 4
Amad Al Hosni Al-Ahli 211 4
Djibril Cissé Al-Gharafa 211 4
Edgar Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 1111 4
Youssef Msakni Lekhwiya 1111 4
Sebastián Soria Lekhwiya 121 4
Sebastián Tagliabué Al-Shabab 112 4
Yun Il-Lok FC Seoul 211 4

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted.[17]

Source:[18][19]

See also

References
  1. "Guangzhou win 2013 AFC Champions League". AFC. 9 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. "AFC Champions League 2013 Competition Regulations". AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2013.
  3. "Decision by Competitions Committee & Executive Committee for AFC Club Competitions" (PDF). AFC.
  4. "New direction for AFC club action". AFC. 17 July 2012.
  5. "Solidarity marks AFC ExCo meeting". AFC. 29 November 2012.
  6. "ACL 2013 Slot Allocation" (PDF). AFC. 4 December 2012.
  7. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2013" (PDF). AFC.
  8. "Clubs await Thursday's ACL draw". AFC. 4 December 2012. Archived from the original on 7 December 2012.
  9. "Invitation to the Official Draw for the AFC Champions League & AFC Cup 2013". AIPS. 6 June 2013.
  10. "Maldives to host 2014 AFC Challenge Cup". AFC. 28 November 2012.
  11. "ACL 2013 – Group Stage Draw". AFC. 6 December 2012.
  12. "AFC confirm play-off date". Football Federation Australia. 19 December 2012. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  13. "Al Ahli renew Korean acquaintances in quarter-finals". AFC. 20 June 2013.
  14. "Triple delight for Muriqui". AFC. 10 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.
  15. "Triple delight for Yanto Basna". AFC. 10 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.
  16. "AFC Champions League 2013 Dream Team". AFC Champions League (Official) Facebook Page. 15 November 2013.
  17. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Play-off". AFC.com.
  18. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Group Stage". AFC.com.
  19. "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2013 AFC Champions League Knock-out Stage". AFC.com.
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