2013 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	9 February – 9 November 2013
Teams	35 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Guangzhou Evergrande (1st title)
Runners-up	FC Seoul
Tournament statistics
Matches played	126
Goals scored	342 (2.71 per match)
Attendance	1,996,166 (15,843 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Muriqui (13 goals)
Best player	Muriqui
←2012 2014 →

The2013 AFC Champions League was the 32nd edition of the top-level Asian clubfootball tournament organized by theAsian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 11th under the currentAFC Champions League title. The defending champions,Ulsan Hyundai, failed to qualify for the tournament.

In thefinal, Chinese teamGuangzhou Evergrande defeated South Korean teamFC 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 afterLiaoning FC and Third Final of Chinese team afterLiaoning F.C. lost againstEsteghlal F.C. of Iran at1990–91 AFC Club Championship, and qualified for the2013 FIFA Club World Cup.^[2]

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 theA-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]

West Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off 1 Saudi Arabia 860.5 4 0 2 Qatar 838.2 4 0 3 Iran 813.5 3 1 4 United Arab Emirates 750.2 2 2 5 Uzbekistan 680.8 [A]2[A] 1 6 India −106.4 0 0 7 Jordan −128.7 0 0 Total [A]14[A] 4

East Zone Rank Member Association Points Slots Group stage Play-off 1 Japan 946.8 4 0 2 South Korea 886.6 4 0 3 China PR 796.7 4 0 4 Australia 567.0 1 1 5 Thailand 177.2 1 1 6 Singapore −135.1 0 0 7 Vietnam −815.7 0 0 Total [A]15[A] 2

Notes

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.

West Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups A–D) Al-Shabab 2011–12 Saudi Professional League champions 7th 2011 Al-Ahli 2012 King Cup of Champions winners 2011–12 Saudi Professional League runners-up 6th 2012 Al-Hilal 2011–12 Saudi Professional League 3rd place 9th 2012 Al-Ettifaq 2011–12 Saudi Professional League 4th place 3rd 2012 Lekhwiya 2011–12 Qatar Stars League champions 2nd 2012 Al-Gharafa 2012 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 8th 2012 El Jaish 2011–12 Qatar Stars League runners-up 1st none Al-Rayyan 2011–12 Qatar Stars League 3rd place 5th 2012 Sepahan 2011–12 Iran Pro League champions 9th 2012 Esteghlal 2011–12 Hazfi Cup winners 2011–12 Iran Pro League 3rd place 6th 2012 Tractor 2011–12 Iran Pro League runners-up 1st none Al-Ain 2011–12 UAE Pro-League champions 8th 2011 Al-Jazira 2011–12 UAE President's Cup winners 5th 2012 Pakhtakor 2012 Uzbek League champions 11th 2012 Qualifying play-off participants Saba Qom 2011–12 Iran Pro League 4th place 3rd 2009 Al-Nasr 2011–12 UAE Pro-League runners-up 2nd 2012 Al-Shabab Al-Arabi 2011–12 UAE Pro-League 3rd place 3rd 2012 Lokomotiv Tashkent 2012 Uzbek League 3rd place 1st none

East Zone Team Qualifying method App Last App Group stage direct entrants (Groups E–H) Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2012 J. League Division 1 champions 2nd 2010 Kashiwa Reysol 2012 Emperor's Cup winners 2nd 2012 Vegalta Sendai 2012 J. League Division 1 runners-up 1st none Urawa Red Diamonds 2012 J. League Division 1 3rd place 3rd 2008 FC Seoul 2012 K-League champions 3rd 2011 Pohang Steelers 2012 Korean FA Cup winners 2012 K-League 3rd place 5th 2012 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2012 K-League runners-up 7th 2012 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2012 K-League 4th place 5th 2011 Guangzhou Evergrande 2012 Chinese Super League champions 2012 Chinese FA Cup winners 2nd 2012 Jiangsu Sainty 2012 Chinese Super League runners-up 1st none Beijing Guoan 2012 Chinese Super League 3rd place 5th 2012 Guizhou Renhe 2012 Chinese Super League 4th place 1st none Bunyodkor 2012 Uzbekistan Cup winners 2012 Uzbek League runners-up 6th 2012 Central Coast Mariners 2011–12 A-League premiers 3rd 2012 Muangthong United 2012 Thai Premier League champions 3rd 2011 Qualifying play-off participants Brisbane Roar 2012 A-League Grand Final winners 2nd 2012 Buriram United 2012 Thai FA Cup winners 3rd 2012

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

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.^[8]

The draw for the qualifying play-off was held on 6 December 2012.^[9] Each tie was played as a single match, withextra time andpenalty shoot-out used to decide the winner if necessary. The winners of each tie advanced to thegroup stage to join the 29 automatic qualifiers.^[2]

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Zone
Saba Qom	1–1 (aet)(3–5p)	Al-Shabab Al-Arabi
Al-Nasr	3–2	Lokomotiv Tashkent
East Zone
Buriram United	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–0p)[B]	Brisbane Roar

Notes

The draw for the group stage was held on 6 December 2012.^[9] 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-awayround-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to theround of 16.

Tiebreakers

The teams are ranked according topoints (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

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SHB	JSH	JAZ	TRA
1	Al-Shabab	6	4	1	1	7	5	+2	13	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		LEK	SHA	ETT	PAK
1	Lekhwiya	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Tiebreakers

• Al-Ettifaq are ranked ahead of Pakhtakor on head-to-head record.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHL	GHA	SEP	NAS
1	Al-Ahli	6	4	2	0	16	8	+8	14	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		EST	HIL	AIN	RAY
1	Esteghlal	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		SEO	BUR	JIA	SEN
1	FC Seoul	6	3	2	1	11	5	+6	11	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Tiebreakers

• Buriram United and Jiangsu Sainty are tied on head-to-head record, and so are ranked by overall goal difference.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		GUA	JEO	URA	MUA
1	Guangzhou Evergrande	6	3	2	1	14	5	+9	11	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Tiebreakers

• Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are ranked ahead of Urawa Red Diamonds on head-to-head record.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		BUN	BEI	POH	HIR
1	Bunyodkor	6	2	4	0	6	3	+3	10	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		KSW	CCM	GUI	SUW
1	Kashiwa Reysol	6	4	2	0	14	4	+10	14	Advance toknockout stage		—	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	—

In the knock-out stage, the 16 teams played asingle-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-awaytwo-legged basis. Theaway goals rule,extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) andpenalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary.^[2]

	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

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]

West Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
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 Zone

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
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

The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final (to decide the order of two legs) was held on 20 June 2013.^[11] 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.Tooltip Aggregate score	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

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	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

26 October 2013

19:30UTC+9

FC Seoul	2–2	Guangzhou Evergrande
Escudero 11' Damjanović 83'	Report	Elkeson 30' Gao Lin 58'

Seoul World Cup Stadium,Seoul

Attendance: 55,501

Referee:Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

9 November 2013

20:00UTC+8

Guangzhou Evergrande	1–1	FC Seoul
Elkeson 58'	Report	Damjanović 63'

Tianhe Stadium,Guangzhou

Attendance: 55,847

Referee:Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

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

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player[12]	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande
Top Goalscorer[13]	Muriqui	Guangzhou Evergrande

AFC Champions League 2013 Dream Team^[14]

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

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

Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted.^[15]

Source:^[16][17]

• 2013 AFC Cup
• 2013 AFC President's Cup
• 2013 FIFA Club World Cup

• AFC Champions League

• 2013 AFC Champions League
• AFC Champions League Elite seasons
• 2013 in Asian men's continental football

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