2011 AFC Champions League

Allocation of entries per association

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

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 Australia, China China PR, Indonesia Indonesia, Japan Japan, Korea Republic Korea Republic
• Keen to participate: Malaysia Malaysia, Myanmar Myanmar, Thailand Thailand
• Withdrew: Singapore Singapore
• Disqualified: Vietnam Vietnam

;West Asia

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

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

Entrants per association

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.

• 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.

** 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.

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

Teams

The following is the list of direct entrants for the group stage confirmed by the AFC.

• 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. 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.

Schedule

Schedule of dates for 2011 competition.

Qualifying play-off

Main article: 2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off

The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. 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.

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.

West Asia

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East Asia

!colspan="3"|Semi-final |- !colspan="3"|Final |}

Group stage

Main article: 2011 AFC Champions League group stage

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

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Knockout stage

Main article: 2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage

Bracket

Round of 16

Based on the results from the group stage, the matchups of the round of 16 were decided as below. 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).

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. 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.

Semi-finals

Final

Main article: 2011 AFC Champions League Final

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

Awards

The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC Champions League:

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

Top scorers

Note: Goals scored in qualifying round not counted.

References

References

1. "Criteria for Participation in AFC Club Competitions for 2011–2012 seasons". AFC.
2. (30 November 2009). "12 MAs keen to join ACL". AFC.
3. (4 October 2010). "Singapore seek to pull out of ACL". AFC.
4. (21 November 2010). "ACL slots maintained". AFC.
5. (27 July 2010). "Ad hoc Committee for Professional Clubs". AFC.
6. (29 November 2010). "ACL, AFCC 2010 teams". AFC.
7. (23 November 2010). "AFC Competitions Committee". AFC.
8. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2011". AFC.
9. (6 December 2010). "Stage set for ACL, AFC Cup draws". AFC.
10. "AFC Champions League 2011 Draw Mechanism for Play-off Stage & Preliminary Stage (Group & Round of 16)". AFC.
11. "AFC Champions League 2011 Competitions Regulations". AFC.
12. (7 December 2010). "Mouth-watering matches on the ACL agenda". AFC.
13. (12 May 2011). "ACL: Juicy encounters in offing". AFC.
14. (7 June 2011). "Korea challenge for former champions". AFC.
15. (31 July 2010). "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC.
16. (5 November 2011). "Double delight for Lee". Asian Football Confederation.