| Tourney name | AFC Champions League |
|---|---|
| Year | 2017 |
| Dates | Qualifying: 24 January – 8 February 2017 Competition proper: 20 February – 25 November 2017 |
| Num teams | Competition proper: 32 Total: 47 |
| Associations | 19 |
| Champion other | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Count | 2 |
| Second other | Al-Hilal |
| Matches | 126 |
| Goals | 394 |
| Attendance | 1779826 |
| Top scorer | Omar Kharbin (10 goals) |
| Player | Yōsuke Kashiwagi |
| Fair play | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Prevseason | 2016 |
| Nextseason | 2018 |
The 2017 AFC Champions League was the 36th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 15th under the current AFC Champions League title.
Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Al-Hilal in the final to win their second AFC Champions League title, and qualified as the AFC representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.[1]
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were the defending champions, but they were excluded from the 2017 season due to a bribery scandal in the domestic K League Classic.[2] Jeonbuk appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,[3] but their request for provisional measures was rejected on 3 February.[4]
Association team allocation
The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,[5] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.[6] The 46 AFC member associations (excluding the associate member Northern Mariana Islands) are ranked based on their national team's and clubs' performance over the last four years in AFC competitions, with the allocation of slots for the 2017 and 2018 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2016 AFC rankings (Entry Manual Article 2.2):[7]
- The associations are split into two regions:
- West Region consists of the associations from the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA), and the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF).
- East Region consists of the associations from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF).
- In each region, there are four groups in the group stage, including a total of 12 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
- The top 12 associations in each region as per the AFC rankings are eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfill the AFC Champions League criteria.
- The top six associations in each region get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots (as well as AFC Cup group stage slots):
- The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot.
- The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots.
- The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots.
- The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot.
- The associations ranked 7th to 12th each get one play-off slot.
- The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of eligible teams in the top division.
- If any association gives up its direct slots, they are redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of three direct slots.
- If any association gives up its play-off slots, they are annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
For the 2017 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to their association ranking published on 30 November 2016,[8] which takes into account their performance in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, as well as their national team's FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2013 and 2016.[7][9]
The slot allocation was announced on 7 December 2016, with India and Maldives returning to the West Region.[10] The final slot allocation, after unused slots were redistributed, was announced on 12 December 2016.[11][12]
| Participation for 2017 AFC Champions League[13] | |
|---|---|
| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
| Rank | Member Association | Points[8] | Slots | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Play-off | ||||||
| Region | AFC | Play-off round | Prelim. round 2 | Prelim. round 1 | |||
| 1 | 2 | United Arab Emirates | 87.555 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 3 | Saudi Arabia | 84.698 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 4 | Iran | 78.908 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 5 | Qatar | 78.171 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 9 | Uzbekistan | 56.876 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | 10 | Iraq | 37.240 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 11 | Kuwait | 36.457 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 13 | Syria | 34.257 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 15 | Jordan | 31.213 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 18 | India | 27.930 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | 19 | Bahrain | 27.353 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 20 | Lebanon | 22.077 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 12 | 6 | 4 | 0 | |||
| 10 | |||||||
| 22 | |||||||
| Rank | Member Association | Points[8] | Slots | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Group stage | Play-off | ||||||
| Region | AFC | Play-off round | Prelim. round 2 | Prelim. round 1 | |||
| 1 | 1 | South Korea | 96.311 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 6 | Japan | 75.807 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 7 | China | 72.719 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 8 | Australia | 72.599 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 12 | Thailand | 34.753 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | 14 | Hong Kong | 31.797 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 16 | Vietnam | 29.273 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 17 | Malaysia | 28.865 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | 21 | Indonesia | 20.372 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 24 | Myanmar | 17.220 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | 25 | Philippines | 17.188 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 27 | Singapore | 13.664 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 4 | 7 | 2 | |||
| 13 | |||||||
| 25 | |||||||
- Notes
Teams
The following 47 teams from 19 associations entered the competition.[11]
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.
- Notes
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[14] Starting from 2017, matches in the West Region were played on Mondays and Tuesdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays.[15]
| Stage | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw | 24 January 2017 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 25 & 31 January 2017 | |||
| Play-off stage | Play-off round | 7–8 February 2017 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 13 December 2016 (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia)[10] | 20–22 February 2017 | |
| Matchday 2 | 27 February – 1 March 2017 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 13–15 March 2017 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 10–12 April 2017 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 24–26 April 2017 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 8–10 May 2017 | |||
| Knockout stage | Round of 16 | 22–24 May 2017 | 29–31 May 2017 | |
| Quarter-finals | 6 June 2017 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)[16] | 21–23 August 2017 | 11–13 September 2017 | |
| Semi-finals | 26–27 September 2017 | 17–18 October 2017 | ||
| Final | 18 November 2017 | 25 November 2017 | ||
Qualifying play-offs
Group stage
| Tiebreakers |
|---|
Knockout stage
Final
Awards
Main awards
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | Yōsuke Kashiwagi[17] | Urawa Red Diamonds |
| Top Goalscorer | Omar Kharbin[18] | Al-Hilal |
| Fair Play Award | — | Urawa Red Diamonds |
All-Star Squad
Source:[19]
Opta Best XI
Source:[20]
Top scorers
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | 2R1 | 2R2 | QF1 | QF2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Omar Kharbin | Al-Hilal | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||||||||
| 2 | Hulk | Shanghai SIPG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||||
| Rafael Silva | Urawa Red Diamonds | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 4 | Omar Abdulrahman | Al-Ain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||||||||
| Alan | Guangzhou Evergrande | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
| Carlos Eduardo | Al-Hilal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Ricardo Goulart | Guangzhou Evergrande | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Mehdi Taremi | Persepolis | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 9 | Yu Kobayashi | Kawasaki Frontale | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||||||||
| Kaveh Rezaei | Esteghlal | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-offs are not counted when determining top scorer (Regulations Article 64.4).[1]
Source: AFC[21]
Player of the week awards
| Matchday | Toyota Player of the Week | |
|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | |
| Group stage | ||
| Matchday 1[22] | Youssef El-Arabi | Lekhwiya |
| Matchday 2[23] | Kim In-sung | Ulsan Hyundai |
| Matchday 3[24] | Yun Il-lok | FC Seoul |
| Matchday 4[25] | Ko Seung-beom | Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
| Matchday 5[26] | Khalid Eisa | Al-Ain |
| Matchday 6[27] | Nicolás Milesi | Al-Hilal |
| Knockout stage | ||
| Round of 16 1st leg[28] | Teerasil Dangda | Muangthong United |
| Round of 16 2nd leg[29] | Omar Abdulrahman | Al-Ain |
| Quarter-finals 1st leg[30] | Yu Kobayashi | Kawasaki Frontale |
| Quarter-finals 2nd leg[31] | Carlos Eduardo | Al-Hilal |
| Semi-finals 1st leg[32] | Omar Kharbin | Al-Hilal |
| Semi-finals 2nd leg[33] | Godwin Mensha | Persepolis |
| Final[34] | Mohammed Al-Breik | Al-Hilal |
See also
References
- ^ "2017 AFC Champions League Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ineligible for AFC Champions League 2017". AFC. 18 January 2017.
- ^ "JEONBUK HYUNDAI MOTORS FILE A REQUEST FOR PROVISIONAL MEASURES AT THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT (CAS)". CAS. 27 January 2017.
- ^ "COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT (CAS) REJECTS THE REQUEST FOR PROVISIONAL MEASURES FILED BY JEONBUK HYUNDAI MOTORS". CAS. 3 February 2017.
- ^ "Revamp of AFC competitions". AFC. 25 January 2014.
- ^ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
- ^ "Entry Manual: AFC Club Competitions 2017–2020" (PDF). AFC.
- ^ "AFC MA Ranking (as of 30 November 2016)" (PDF). AFC.
- ^ "AFC Club Competitions Ranking Mechanics (2016 version)". AFC.
- ^ "AFC Champions League 2017 slot allocation and draw date set". AFC. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
- ^ "Champions Jeonbuk to learn ACL 2017 opponents on Tuesday". AFC. 12 December 2016.
- ^ "AFC Champions League 2017 Draw Mechanism". AFC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-06. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "MA's Licensed Club 2017". AFC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
- ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017" (PDF). AFC.
- ^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016.
- ^ "AFC Champions League 2017: And then there were eight...". AFC. 5 June 2017.
- ^ "Yosuke Kashiwagi clinches AFC Champions League MVP Award". AFC. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "Omar Khribin bags AFC Champions League Top Scorer Award". AFC. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- ^ "AFC Champions League 2017 Technical Report". AFC. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
- ^ "The Best ACL2017 XI announced!". Asian Football Confederation. 2020-07-05. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
- ^ "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2017 AFC Champions League (Group Stage, Round of 16, Knock-out Stage)". the-afc.com. AFC.
- ^ "ACL MD1 Toyota Player of the Week". AFC. 27 February 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 MD2 Toyota Player of the Week: Kim In-sung". AFC. 3 March 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 MD3 Toyota Player of the Week: Yun Il-lok". AFC. 16 March 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 MD4 Toyota Player of the Week: Ko Seung-beom". AFC. 14 April 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 MD5 Toyota Player of the Week: Khalid Eisa". AFC. 28 April 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 MD6 Toyota Player of the Week: Nicolas Milesi". AFC. 12 May 2017.
- ^ "#ACL2017 Round of 16 Toyota Player of the Week: Teerasil Dangda". AFC. 25 May 2017.
- ^ "#ACL2017 Toyota Player of the Week: Omar Abdulrahman". AFC. 1 June 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 Quarter-final 1st leg Toyota Player of the Week: Yu Kobayashi". AFC. 25 August 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 Quarter-final 2nd Leg Toyota Player of the Week: Carlos Eduardo". AFC. 14 September 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 Semi-final 1st leg Toyota Player of the Week: Omar Khribin". AFC. 28 September 2017.
- ^ "ACL 2017 Semi-final 2nd leg Toyota Player of the Week: Godwin Mensha". AFC. 19 October 2017.
- ^ "ACL2017 Final Toyota Player of the Week: Mohammed Al Burayk". AFC. 27 November 2017.
External links
- AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com
- AFC Champions League 2017, stats.the-AFC.com