AFC
Kuala Lumpur
The Continent’s finest 24 clubs will take centre stage next week when the inaugural 2024-25 season of the AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) kicks off on Monday, September 16.
Asian football fans can look forward to 12 tantalising ties in the first of eight matchdays in the League Stage – a format being implemented for the first time in an AFC club competition.
Featuring two leagues of 12 teams across the West and East regions, each side will face eight different opponents within its region in the form of four home and four away matches between September 16, 2024 and February 19, 2025.
Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal SFC and Uzbekistan heavyweights Pakhtakor will make their joint-record 19th appearance in Asia’s elite men’s club competition – inclusive of the preceding AFC Champions League (ACL) - while Gwangju FC of South Korea is the sole club making their Continental debut.
The riveting West Zone battles begin on Monday at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, where the home side take on Al Sadd SC at 8pm. The only United Arab Emirates club to have won the ACL (2003 and 2023/24), Al Ain FC are seeking back-to-back crowns on their 17th appearance. The Qatari visitors, also marking their 17th participation, are similarly the only side from their country to have claimed the ACL (2011). Al Sadd won a 17th league title and 19th domestic cup in 2023/24 – both records – and are unbeaten against Al Ain in their two meetings to date, drawing 3-3 away and winning 4-0 at home in the 2020 ACL Group Stage.
Al Shorta, who won their third Iraqi league title on the trot in 2023/24 and added a first cup win to complete a domestic double, return to the competition for a fifth time and first since 2021. They host Al Nassr Club at 7pm at the Karbala International Stadium, with the nine-time Saudi league champions and two-time ACL semi-finalists making their eighth appearance. Both teams met for the first time at the 2023 Arab Club Champions Cup last August, with Al Nassr winning 1-0 in the semi-finals enroute to winning their first title.
Seven-time Qatari league winners Al Gharafa SC came through the Preliminary Stage to take their place here and the 2010 quarter-finalists will travel to Iran to begin their 10th tournament involvement. Esteghlal FC await them as the nine-time league champions appear for a 13th time and first since 2021. The hosts, who won once and drew the other in their two previous encounters in the 2010 ACL Group Stage, will eye a second win when proceedings kick off at 9.30pm.
