The AFC Champions League 2013 was the 32nd edition of the highest continental competition in Asia, which is being held for the eleventh time under its current name. The winner of the competition was Guangzhou Evergrande from China, who qualified for the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup .
The AFC determined the eligible association members in November 2012.
The following criteria were proposed in July 2012:
Each association must score at least 600 out of a possible 1000 points in order to send teams to the AFC Champions League.
The places for the group stage and the playoffs are allocated according to the following ranking:
The two best-placed associations receive four starting places in the group stage.
The third-placed associations receive three starting places in the group phase and one play-off place.
The fourth-placed associations will receive two starting places in the group phase and one play-off place.
The associations placed fifth receive a starting place in the group phase and a playoff place.
The sixth, seventh and eighth-placed associations receive a playoff place.
On November 29th, 2012 the starting places for the AFC Champions League 2013 were determined. The 35 starting places (29 group stage and 6 playoff places) were allocated on the basis of the above criteria, but there were some slight deviations from them.
For teams that have qualified through several competitions, only the higher title is given.
mode
Group stage
In the group stage, 32 teams played in eight groups, each with four teams in league mode (first and second leg). The teams were divided according to geographical aspects. Teams from West and Central Asia played in groups A to D, and teams from East and Southeast Asia competed in groups E to H. The first two of the group qualified for the final round of the last 16. The tournament was played with the three-point rule .
Final round
The quarter-finals were drawn, avoiding direct clashes between two teams from the same country. The teams played the tournament winner in the knockout system with a return game, whereby the away goals rule applied. If no winner was determined in the second leg after regular playing time and extra time, this was determined in a penalty shoot-out .
The losers in the playoffs no longer automatically switched to the AFC Cup .
The round of 16 were now also played with a return leg.
The final will be played with a return leg. The changes to the final will be checked again in the future.
game schedule
Qualifiers: February 9
Group stage: 26./27. February, 12./13. March, 2/3 April, 9./10. April 23/24 April 30th / April 1st May
Round of 16: 14./15. May, 21./22. May
Quarter-finals: August 21 and September 18
Semi-finals: September 24th and October 2nd
Finale: October 25th or 26th and November 8th or 9th
Qualifying round
The qualifying rounds were drawn on December 6, 2012 and held on February 9, 2013. Each encounter was played in a game with possible extra time and penalty shoot-outs. The winners qualified for the group stage , the losers were eliminated.
1 : Brisbane Roar actually had home advantage. By postponing the date, both teams have agreed to change home law
Group stage
The group stage was also drawn on December 6, 2012. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups with four participants each. Teams from the same country could not be drawn into the same group. Everyone plays a game against each other. The two best teams in each group reached the round of 16.
The tables are created according to the following rules:
Number of points (win 3 points, tie one point, defeat 0 points)
Points from face-to-face encounters
Number of hits achieved in direct encounter
Goal difference in all matches of the group
Number of hits scored in all matches in the group
Penalty shoot-out by the teams concerned (only after the direct encounter at the end of the group stage)
low fair play value (one point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card, 3 points for each red-yellow card, 4 points for each yellow card which is followed by a red card)
The first leg took place on May 14th and 15th, the second leg on May 21st and 22nd. In the round of the last 16, the group winners played against runners-up from a different group in the same zone. The group winners had home advantage in the second leg.
↑ AFC confirm play-off date . Football Federation Australia. December 19, 2012. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved on March 27, 2013.
Guangzhou Evergrande (1st title)
Muriqui (soccer player) (13 goals)
al Shabab
Tashkent locomotive
Brisbane Roar
al-Shabab
FC Seoul
Kashiwa Reysol
1-0 Sergio Escudero (12th) 
Sergio Escudero (70th)
Dario Conca
Dejan Damjanović