 TheNational Stadium inTokyo hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 18 – 25 February 2009 Competition proper: 10 March – 7 November 2009 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 32 Total: 35 (from 13 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Pohang Steelers (3rd title) |
| Runners-up |  Al-Ittihad |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 111 |
| Goals scored | 329 (2.96 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,396,226 (12,579 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Leandro(10 goals) |
| Best player | No Byung-jun |
| Fair play award | Pohang Steelers[1] |
←2008 2010 → | |
The2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian clubfootball tournament organized by theAsian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the currentAFC Champions League title. Thefinal was held at theNational Stadium inTokyo on 7 November 2009, withPohang Steelers defeatingAl-Ittihad and securing a record-breaking third title. As winners, Pohang Steelers, qualified as the AFC's representative at the2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The Champions League featured a number of changes to its structure this season. Qualifying rounds were introduced, with both finalists of the previous yearsAFC Cup automatically earning a place in the qualifiers. The group stage was expanded from 28 to 32 teams. The first and second-placed teams in each group advanced to the knockout stage, which now included a Round of 16. The final was played as a single-legged tie at a neutral venue. The defending champions no longer received a bye to the knockout stage, nor did they automatically qualify for the tournament.
Each team was allowed to field a maximum of four foreign players this season, one of whom had to be from an AFC Member Association.
Gamba Osaka were the defending champions, but were eliminated byKawasaki Frontale in the Round of 16.
A total of 35 teams participated in the 2009 AFC Champions League.[2]
|
† One of theA-League clubs,Wellington Phoenix, is based inNew Zealand, anOFC member country, therefore not being eligible to compete in the ACL. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Below is the qualification scheme for the 2009 AFC Champions League:
Qualifying play-off: (5 teams)
United Arab Emirates,
Indonesia,
Singapore,
Thailand,
India each have 1 team qualifyGroup stage: (32 teams)
Japan,
China,
Iran,South Korea,Saudi ArabiaUnited Arab Emirates
Australia,
Uzbekistan,
QatarIndonesiaIn 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. TH means title holders.
| Stage | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying play-off | Preliminary round | 18 December 2008 | 18 February 2009 | |
| Play-off round | 25 February 2009 | |||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 7 January 2009 | 10–11 March 2009 | |
| Matchday 2 | 17–18 March 2009 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 7–8 April 2009 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 21–22 April 2009 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 5–6 May 2009 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 19–20 May 2009 | |||
| Knockout stage | Round of 16[a] | No draw[b] | 27 May[c] and 24 June[d] 2009 | |
| Quarter-finals | 29 June 2009 | 23–24 September 2009 | 30 September 2009 | |
| Semi-finals | 21 October 2009 | 28 October 2009 | ||
| Final | 7 November 2009 atNational Stadium,Tokyo | |||
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| East Zone | ||
| PEA | 1–4 (aet) | Singapore Armed Forces |
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
| East Zone | ||
| Singapore Armed Forces | 2–1 (aet) | PSMS Medan |
| West Zone | ||
| Sharjah | 3–0 | Dempo |
The draw for the group stage was held on 7 January 2009 inAbu Dhabi,UAE.
Each club played double round-robin (home and away) against fellow three group members, a total of 6 matches each. Each team had been numbered from 1 to 4, the numbers determine the order of the fixtures.
Clubs receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:
Winners and runners-up of each group qualified for the next round.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | HIL | PAK | SAB | AHL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Hilal | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 14 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Pakhtakor | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 13 | 1–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3 | Saba Qom | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–0 | ||
| 4 | Al-Ahli | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | −8 | 1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 3–5 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PRS | SHB | GHA | SHA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Persepolis | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 1–0 | 3–1 | ||
| 2 | Al-Shabab | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 | |||
| 3 | Al-Gharafa | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 3 | 5–1 | 1–3 | — | |||
| 4 | Sharjah[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Withdrew[b] | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ITT | UMS | JAZ | EST | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Ittihad | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 12 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 7–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
| 2 | Umm-Salal | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 8 | 1–3 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | ||
| 3 | Al-Jazira | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 | ||
| 4 | Esteghlal | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ETT | BUN | SEP | SHB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Ettifaq | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 12 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 4–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | |
| 2 | Bunyodkor | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 8 | 2–1 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | ||
| 3 | Sepahan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 7 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Al-Shabab | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 7 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NAG | NEW | ULS | BEI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nagoya Grampus | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 12 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–0 | |
| 2 | Newcastle Jets | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 10 | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 |  Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | −6 | 6 | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 1–0 | ||
| 4 | Beijing Guoan | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 5 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | OSA | SEO | SHA | SRI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 15 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 1–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 | |
| 2 | FC Seoul | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 11 | +3 | 10 | 2–4 | — | 1–1 | 5–1 | ||
| 3 | Shandong Luneng | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 7 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 5–0 | ||
| 4 | Sriwijaya | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 24 | −17 | 3 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KAS | SUW | SHA | SAF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 13 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | |
| 2 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 12 | 4–1 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | ||
| 3 | Shanghai Shenhua | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 8 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 4–1 | ||
| 4 | Singapore Armed Forces | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 19 | −15 | 1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | — |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | POH | KAW | TIA | CCM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pohang Steelers | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 12 | Advance toknockout stage | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | |
| 2 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 | 0–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
| 3 | Tianjin Teda | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 8 | 0–0 | 3–1 | — | 2–2 | ||
| 4 | Central Coast Mariners | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 2 | 0–0 | 0–5 | 0–1 | — |
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ettifaq | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pakhtakor | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pakhtakor | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ittihad | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ittihad | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Shabab | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ittihad | 6 | 2 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Nagoya Grampus | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ittihad | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Persepolis | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bunyodkor | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bunyodkor | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Pohang Steelers (aet) | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Newcastle Jets | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Pohang Steelers | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Umm-Salal | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
| Al-Hilal | 0 (3) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umm-Salal (p) | 0 (4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Umm-Salal | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| FC Seoul | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| Kashima Antlers | 2 (4) | ||||||||||||||||||
| FC Seoul (p) | 2 (5) | ||||||||||||||||||
The draw for the round of 16 of the 2009 AFC Champions League was held on 7 January 2009, along with the draw for the group stage. The West Asian matches were played on 26 and 27 May. The East Asian matches were played on 24 June.
The draw for the quarter-finals and the remaining knockout rounds took place atKuala Lumpur,Malaysia on 29 June 2009. The first leg matches were played on 23–24 September, with the second leg matches were played on 30 September.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umm-Salal | 4–3 | FC Seoul | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 3–4 | Nagoya Grampus | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Pakhtakor | 1–5 | Al-Ittihad | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Bunyodkor | 4–5 | Pohang Steelers | 3–1 | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |
The first leg matches were played on 21 October, with the second leg matches were played on 28 October 2009.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ittihad | 8–3 | Nagoya Grampus | 6–2 | 2–1 |
| Pohang Steelers | 4–1 | Umm-Salal | 2–0 | 2–1 |
The 2009 AFC Champions League Final was played on 7 November atNational Stadium,Tokyo,Japan.
| Al-Ittihad | 1–2 | Pohang Steelers |
|---|---|---|
Noor 74' | Report | No Byung-jun 57' Kim Hyung-il 66' |
Note: Goals scored in qualifying round not counted.
| Rank | Player | Club | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | R16 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leandro | Gamba Osaka | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||||||
| 2 |  Prince Tagoe | Al-Ettifaq | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||
| 3 | Denilson | Pohang Steelers | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||||||||
| 4 | Nasser Al-Shamrani | Al-Shabab | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| 5 | Mohammed Noor | Al-Ittihad | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
| Yoshizumi Ogawa | Nagoya Grampus | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 Hicham Aboucherouane | Al-Ittihad | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
 Dejan Damjanović | FC Seoul | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Renatinho | Kawasaki Frontale | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Zaynitdin Tadjiyev | Pakhtakor | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||
| Araújo | Al-Gharafa | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||||||||||
