The AFC Champions League 2015 was the 13th season of the most important Asian competition for club teams in football under this name and the 34th overall. 49 clubs from 21 national associations took part in the competition. The season began with the first qualifying round on February 4 and ended with the second leg of the final on November 21, 2015.
The number of starting places in the individual qualifying rounds and the group phase was determined from the AFC four-year evaluation 2014, which was made up of the results of the respective football association in AFC competitions over the past four years. The clubs were considered to 70 percent and the national teams to 30 percent (maximum 100 points).
The 12 best associations from the western and eastern regions were admitted to the Champions League after the four-year ranking in 2014.
The western region included the associations from West , Central and South Asia , with the exception of India and the Maldives.
The eastern region included the associations from Southeast and East Asia as well as India and the Maldives.
In both regions there were 12 direct starting places in the group stage, the remaining 8 (4 in each region) were decided by qualification.
The best 6 associations from both regions were given direct starting positions in the group phase, the rest had to qualify.
Places 1 and 2 received three direct starting places and one qualification place.
3rd and 4th place received two direct starting places and two qualifying places.
5th place received a direct starting place and two qualification places.
6th place received a direct starting place and a qualification place.
Place 7 to 12 received a qualification place.
The maximum number of starting places was a third of the total number of clubs in the first division (Australia only got three places, as only nine Australian clubs played in the A-League ).
↑ a b c Iraq (2 qualifying places), Lebanon and Syria (each one qualifying place) originally received places, but are not allowed to take part in the AFC Champions League 2015 as none of their clubs received a license.
qualification
The fixtures in the three qualifying rounds were set according to the AFC four-year ranking, with matches between teams from the same national association being excluded. The team placed higher in the rating had home rights. The defeated teams from the associations, which were only allowed to send one team to the Champions League, continued to play in the group phase of the AFC Cup.
32 clubs from 11 national associations took part in the group stage. 24 teams were directly qualified, plus 8 (four each from the western and eastern regions) from the qualifying rounds. The group draw took place on December 11, 2014 in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur . The teams were drawn into eight groups with four participants each. The teams from the western region formed groups A to D, those from the eastern region formed groups E to H. Teams from the same national association could not be drawn into the same group.
The group winners and runners-up qualified for the round of 16, while those placed third and fourth were eliminated from the competition. If two or more teams were tied, the placement was determined by the following criteria:
Number of points in direct comparison
Goal difference in direct comparison
Number of goals in direct comparison
Number of away goals in direct comparison
If, after applying criteria 1 to 4, two or more teams still occupy the same place in the table, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied for these teams. If this does not lead to a definitive placement, criteria 6 to 10 are used.
Goal difference from all group matches
Number of goals in all group matches
If it's only about two teams and these two are on the pitch, there will be a penalty shoot-out between them.
Lower number of points through yellow and red cards (yellow card 1 point, yellow-red and red card 3 points, yellow card followed by a direct red card 4 points)
Higher rank of the football association in the AFC four-year ranking
The division into the western and eastern regions, which had already existed since the qualifying rounds, was continued in the final round up to the final.
Round of 16
The pairings for the round of 16 were blindly determined when the group stage was drawn in December 2014. So it could happen that teams from the same national association had to play against each other. A group runner-up each met a group winner from another group, with the group winners initially playing the first leg away. The first legs took place on May 19 and 20, 2015, the second legs on May 26 and 27, 2015.
The fixtures for the quarter-finals were drawn on June 18, 2015. There were no seeded teams and teams from the same national association could be drawn against each other. The first legs took place on August 25 and 26, 2015, and the second legs on September 15 and 16, 2015.
The order of the games was determined after the draw for the quarter-finals. The first legs took place on September 29 and 30, 2015, the second legs on October 20 and 21, 2015.
Below are the top scorers of the Champions League season (without qualification). If the number of goals is the same, the players are sorted alphabetically.
Guangzhou Evergrande
Ricardo Goulart
yellow cards
Yellow and red cards
Red cards
Warriors FC
Bengaluru FC
al-Wihdat
al-Nahda
Al-Riffa SC
Persib Bandung
Kitchee SC
al-Jazira Club
1-0 Elkeson (54th)
Omar Al Soma
Asamoah Gyan
Youssef Msakni