Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

2016 AFC Champions League

The 2016 AFC Champions League was the 35th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 14th under the current AFC Champions League title.

2016 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates27 January – 26 November 2016
Teams45 (from 17 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2nd title)
Runners-upUnited Arab Emirates Al-Ain
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored312 (2.48 per match)
Attendance1,639,885 (13,015 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brazil Adriano (13 goals)
Best player(s)United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman
Fair play awardUnited Arab Emirates Al-Ain
2015
2017

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors defeated Al-Ain in the final to win their second AFC Champions League title, and qualified as the AFC representative at the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, their second appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup.[1][2] Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.

Association team allocation

edit

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed a revamp of the AFC club competitions on 25 January 2014,[3] which was ratified by the AFC Executive Committee on 16 April 2014.[4] 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 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC club competitions determined by the 2014 rankings:[5]

  • The associations are split into West Zone and East Zone, with 23 associations in each zone:
  • In each zone, there are a total of 12 direct slots in the group stage, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
  • The top 12 associations in each zone 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 zone get at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations get only play-off slots:
    • The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each get three direct slots and one play-off slot (in play-off round).
    • The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each get two direct slots and two play-off slots (one in play-off round, one in preliminary round 2).
    • The associations ranked 5th each get one direct slot and two play-off slots (both in preliminary round 2).
    • The associations ranked 6th each get one direct slot and one play-off slot (in preliminary round 2).
    • The associations ranked 7th to 12th each get one play-off slot (in preliminary round 1).
  • The maximum number of slots for each association is one-third of the total number of clubs in the top division (e.g., Australia can only get a maximum of three total slots as there are only nine Australia-based clubs in the A-League).

The AFC Competitions Committee finalised the slot allocation for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the AFC Champions League based on the criteria, including the AFC rankings and the implementation of club licensing regulations, on 28 November 2014.[6][7][8]

The following table shows the slot allocation for the 2016 AFC Champions League, which are adjusted accordingly since some of the slots are unused.

Participation for 2016 AFC Champions League[9]
Fulfills participation criteria
Does not fulfill participation criteria
Notes
  1. ^
    United Arab Emirates had their fourth team entering the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 2 due to unused slots.
  2. ^
    Qatar had their third and fourth teams entering the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 2 due to unused slots.
  3. ^
    Iraq were allocated two preliminary round 2 slots, but were not allowed to participate as none of their teams passed the club licensing requirements.
  4. ^
    Kuwait were allocated one preliminary round 1 slot, but could not participate due to FIFA's suspension of its football association.
  5. ^
    Jordan had their team entering the play-off round instead of the preliminary round 1 due to unused slots.
  6. ^ a b c d
    Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon and Syria were allocated one preliminary round 1 slot, but were not allowed to participate as none of their teams passed the club licensing requirements.
  7. ^
    Indonesia were allocated one preliminary round 2 slot, could not participate in the AFC Champions League due to FIFA's suspension of its football association.
  8. ^ a b
    Myanmar and Malaysia had their team entering the preliminary round 2 instead of the preliminary round 1 due to unused slots.

Teams

edit

The following 45 teams from 17 associations entered the competition.[9]

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. TH means title holders.

Notes
  1. ^
    China (CHN): Jiangsu Suning had its name changed from "Jiangsu Sainty" in December 2015. They are referred to as "Jiangsu FC" by the AFC in its official reports for the 2016 AFC Champions League.
  2. ^
    Singapore (SIN): Since Brunei DPMM, the 2015 S.League champions, is a team managed by the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions, their place was taken by Tampines Rovers, the league runners-up.
  3. ^
    Thailand (THA): Since Suphanburi, the 2015 Thai Premier League 3rd place, failed to pass the club licensing requirements, their place was taken by Chonburi, the league 4th place.[10]
Location of teams of the 2016 AFC Champions League.
  West Zone
  East Zone
(p) Qualifying play-off participants

Schedule

edit

The schedule of the competition is as follows (all draws are held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia).[11]

Stage Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Preliminary stage Preliminary round 1 No draw 27 January 2016
Preliminary round 2 2 February 2016
Play-off stage Play-off round 9 February 2016
Group stage Matchday 1 10 December 2015[9] 23–24 February 2016
Matchday 2 1–2 March 2016
Matchday 3 15–16 March 2016
Matchday 4 5–6 April 2016
Matchday 5 19–20 April 2016
Matchday 6 3–4 May 2016
Knockout stage Round of 16 17–18 May 2016 24–25 May 2016
Quarter-finals 9 June 2016[12] 23–24 August 2016 13–14 September 2016
Semi-finals 27–28 September 2016 18–19 October 2016
Final 19 November 2016 26 November 2016

Qualifying play-off

edit

In the qualifying play-off, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 10.2). The eight winners of the play-off round advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round which were from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.[2]

The bracket of the qualifying play-off was determined by the AFC based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting each match. Teams from the same association could not be placed in the same play-off.[13][14]

Preliminary round 1

edit
Team 1  Score  Team 2
East Zone
Mohun Bagan India  3–1 Singapore  Tampines Rovers

Preliminary round 2

edit
Team 1  Score  Team 2
East Zone
Hà Nội T&T Vietnam  1–0 Hong Kong  Kitchee
Chonburi Thailand  3–2 (a.e.t.) Myanmar  Yangon United
Shandong Luneng China  6–0 India  Mohun Bagan
Muangthong United Thailand  0–0 (a.e.t.)
(3–0 p)
Malaysia  Johor Darul Ta'zim

Play-off round

edit
Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Zone
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia  2–1 Jordan  Al-Wehdat
Naft Tehran Iran  0–2 Qatar  El Jaish
Bunyodkor Uzbekistan  2–0 United Arab Emirates  Al-Shabab
Al-Jazira United Arab Emirates  2–2 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)
Qatar  Al-Sadd
Team 1  Score  Team 2
East Zone
Pohang Steelers South Korea  3–0 Vietnam  Hà Nội T&T
FC Tokyo Japan  9–0 Thailand  Chonburi
Adelaide United Australia  1–2 China  Shandong Luneng
Shanghai SIPG China  3–0 Thailand  Muangthong United

Group stage

edit

The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December 2015, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[9] The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.[15][16] In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16.[2]

Group A

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification LOK NAS ITT SEP
1 Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent 6 2 4 0 6 3 +3 10 Advance to knockout stage 0–0 1–1 1–0
2 United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr 6 2 3 1 5 4 +1 9 1–1 0–0 2–0
3 Saudi Arabia  Al-Ittihad 6 2 3 1 9 4 +5 9 1–1 1–2 4–0
4 Iran  Sepahan 6 1 0 5 2 11 −9 3 0–2 2–0 0–2
Source: AFC

Group B

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ZOB LEK NSR BYD
1 Iran  Zob Ahan 6 4 2 0 12 2 +10 14 Advance to knockout stage 0–0 3–0 5–2
2 Qatar  Lekhwiya 6 2 3 1 7 2 +5 9 0–1 4–0 0–0
3 Saudi Arabia  Al-Nassr 6 1 2 3 5 14 −9 5 0–3 1–1 3–3
4 Uzbekistan  Bunyodkor 6 0 3 3 5 11 −6 3 0–0 0–2 0–1
Source: AFC

Group C

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TRA HIL PAK JAZ
1 Iran  Tractor Sazi 6 4 0 2 10 3 +7 12 Advance to knockout stage 1–2 2–0 4–0
2 Saudi Arabia  Al-Hilal 6 3 2 1 10 7 +3 11 0–2 4–1 1–0
3 Uzbekistan  Pakhtakor 6 3 1 2 10 9 +1 10 1–0 2–2 3–0
4 United Arab Emirates  Al-Jazira 6 0 1 5 2 13 −11 1 0–1 1–1 1–3
Source: AFC

Group D

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JSH AIN AHL NSF
1 Qatar  El Jaish 6 3 1 2 6 8 −2 10 Advance to knockout stage 2–1 1–4 1–0
2 United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 6 3 1 2 8 6 +2 10 1–2 1–0 2–0
3 Saudi Arabia  Al-Ahli 6 3 0 3 10 7 +3 9 2–0 1–2 2–1
4 Uzbekistan  Nasaf Qarshi 6 1 2 3 4 7 −3 5 0–0 1–1 2–1
Source: AFC

Group E

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification JHM TOK JIA BBD
1 South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 3 1 2 13 9 +4 10 Advance to knockout stage 2–1 2–2 2–0
2 Japan  FC Tokyo 6 3 1 2 8 8 0 10 0–3 0–0 3–1
3 China  Jiangsu Suning 6 2 3 1 10 7 +3 9 3–2 1–2 3–0
4 Vietnam  Becamex Binh Duong 6 1 1 4 6 13 −7 4 3–2 1–2 1–1
Source: AFC

Group F

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SEO SHD HIR BUR
1 South Korea  FC Seoul 6 4 1 1 17 5 +12 13 Advance to knockout stage 0–0 4–1 2–1
2 China  Shandong Luneng 6 3 2 1 7 5 +2 11 1–4 1–0 3–0
3 Japan  Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 3 0 3 9 8 +1 9 2–1 1–2 3–0
4 Thailand  Buriram United 6 0 1 5 1 16 −15 1 0–6 0–0 0–2
Source: AFC

Group G

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SSI MEL SSB GAM
1 China  Shanghai SIPG 6 4 0 2 10 8 +2 12 Advance to knockout stage 3–1 2–1 2–1
2 Australia  Melbourne Victory 6 2 3 1 7 7 0 9 2–1 0–0 2–1
3 South Korea  Suwon Samsung Bluewings 6 2 3 1 7 4 +3 9 3–0 1–1 0–0
4 Japan  Gamba Osaka 6 0 2 4 4 9 −5 2 0–2 1–1 1–2
Source: AFC

Group H

edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification SYD URA GZE POH
1 Australia  Sydney FC 6 3 1 2 4 4 0 10 Advance to knockout stage 0–0 2–1 1–0
2 Japan  Urawa Red Diamonds 6 2 3 1 6 4 +2 9 2–0 1–0 1–1
3 China  Guangzhou Evergrande 6 2 2 2 6 5 +1 8 1–0 2–2 0–0
4 South Korea  Pohang Steelers 6 1 2 3 2 5 −3 5 0–1 1–0 0–2
Source: AFC

Knockout stage

edit

In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones until the final. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 12.3).[2]

Bracket

edit
Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                
Japan  FC Tokyo 2 0 2
China  Shanghai SIPG (a) 1 1 2
China  Shanghai SIPG 0 0 0
South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0 5 5
Australia  Melbourne Victory 1 1 2
South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1 2 3
South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4 1 5
South Korea  FC Seoul 1 2 3
Japan  Urawa Red Diamonds 1 2 (6)
South Korea  FC Seoul (p) 0 3 (7)
South Korea  FC Seoul 3 1 4
China  Shandong Luneng 1 1 2
China  Shandong Luneng (a) 1 2 3
Australia  Sydney FC 1 2 3
South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2 1 3
United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 1 1 2
United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 1 2 3
Iran  Zob Ahan 1 0 1
United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 0 1 1
Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent 0 0 0
Saudi Arabia  Al-Hilal 0 1 1
Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent 0 2 2
United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 3 2 5
Qatar  El Jaish 1 2 3
Qatar  Lekhwiya 0 4 4
Qatar  El Jaish 4 2 6
Qatar  El Jaish (1st leg awd.) 3 1 4
United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr 0 0 0
United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr 4 1 5
Iran  Tractor Sazi 1 3 4

Round of 16

edit

In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.[14]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Zone
Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia  1–2 Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent 0–0 1–2
Al-Nasr United Arab Emirates  5–4 Iran  Tractor Sazi 4–1 1–3
Al-Ain United Arab Emirates  3–1 Iran  Zob Ahan 1–1 2–0
Lekhwiya Qatar  4–6 Qatar  El Jaish 0–4 4–2
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Zone
Melbourne Victory Australia  2–3 South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–1 1–2
FC Tokyo Japan  2–2 (a) China  Shanghai SIPG 2–1 0–1
Urawa Red Diamonds Japan  3–3 (6–7 p) South Korea  FC Seoul 1–0 2–3 (a.e.t.)
Shandong Luneng China  3–3 (a) Australia  Sydney FC 1–1 2–2

Quarter-finals

edit

In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Zone were drawn into two ties, and the four teams from the East Zone were drawn into the other two ties, with the order of legs also decided by the draw.[17]

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 9 June 2016, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the Petaling Jaya Hilton Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[12] There was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.[17]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Region
Al-Ain United Arab Emirates  1–0 Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent 0–0 1–0
El Jaish Qatar  4–0 United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr 3–0 (awd.)[I] 1–0
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Region
Shanghai SIPG China  0–5 South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0–0 0–5
FC Seoul South Korea  4–2 China  Shandong Luneng 3–1 1–1
Notes
  1. ^
    The El Jaish v Al-Nasr first leg, originally won 3–0 by Al-Nasr, was forfeited and awarded 3–0 to El Jaish by the AFC Disciplinary Committee on 12 September 2016, as Al-Nasr fielded the player Wanderley who was found to be registered using a fake Indonesian passport.[18]

Semi-finals

edit

In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Zone play each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Zone play each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.[17]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
West Region
Al-Ain United Arab Emirates  5–3 Qatar  El Jaish 3–1 2–2
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
East Region
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea  5–3 South Korea  FC Seoul 4–1 1–2

Final

edit

In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs reversed from the previous season's final, with the team from the East Zone hosting the first leg, and the team from the West Zone hosting the second leg.[17]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea 2–1United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Leonardo   70', 77' (pen.) Report Asprilla   63'
Attendance: 36,158
Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)
Al-Ain United Arab Emirates 1–1South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Lee Myung-joo   34' Report Han Kyo-won   30'
Attendance: 23,239
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 3–2 on aggregate.

Awards

edit

Main awards

edit
Award Player Team
Most Valuable Player[19] United Arab Emirates  Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Top Goalscorer[20] Brazil  Adriano South Korea  FC Seoul
Fair Play Award[19] United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain

All-Star Squad

edit

Source:[21]

Position Player Team
Goalkeepers South Korea  Kwoun Sun-tae South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Uzbekistan  Ignatiy Nesterov Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent
Defenders United Arab Emirates  Ismail Ahmed United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Brazil  Gil China  Shandong Luneng
South Korea  Kim Ju-young China  Shanghai SIPG
South Korea  Cho Sung-hwan South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
South Korea  Kwak Tae-hwi South Korea  FC Seoul
Midfielders United Arab Emirates  Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
South Korea  Kim Bo-kyung South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Uzbekistan  Server Djeparov Uzbekistan  Lokomotiv Tashkent
South Korea  Lee Jae-sung South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Mali  Seydou Keita Qatar  El Jaish
Brazil  Leonardo South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Argentina  Walter Montillo China  Shandong Luneng
South Korea  Lee Myung-joo United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Forwards Brazil  Adriano South Korea  FC Seoul
Colombia  Danilo Moreno Asprilla United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Brazil  Caio United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Montenegro  Dejan Damjanović South Korea  FC Seoul
Brazil  Hulk China  Shanghai SIPG
China  Wu Lei China  Shanghai SIPG
Brazil  Ricardo Lopes South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Brazil  Romarinho Qatar  El Jaish

Opta Best XI

edit

Source:[22]

Position Player Team
Goalkeeper United Arab Emirates  Khalid Eisa United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Defenders United Arab Emirates  Ahmed Al-Yassi United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr
United Arab Emirates  Ismail Ahmed United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
United Arab Emirates  Mahmoud Khamees United Arab Emirates  Al-Nasr
Midfielders United Arab Emirates  Omar Abdulrahman United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Brazil  Leonardo South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
South Korea  Lee Jae-sung South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
China  Wu Lei China  Shanghai SIPG
Forwards Brazil  Adriano South Korea  FC Seoul
Brazil  Douglas United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain
Brazil  Romarinho Qatar  El Jaish

Top scorers

edit
Rank Player Team MD1 MD2 MD3 MD4 MD5 MD6 2R1 2R2 QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F1 F2 Total
1 Brazil  Adriano South Korea  FC Seoul 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 13
2 Brazil  Leonardo South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1 1 2 2 2 2 10
3 Brazil  Romarinho Qatar  El Jaish 1 2 1 1 2 7
4 Montenegro  Dejan Damjanović South Korea  FC Seoul 1 1 1 1 1 5
Brazil  Douglas United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 1 2 1 1 5
Uzbekistan  Igor Sergeev Uzbekistan  Pakhtakor 1 1 1 2 5
South Korea  Lee Dong-gook South Korea  Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1 1 1 2 5
China  Wu Lei China  Shanghai SIPG 1 1 1 1 1 5
9 Colombia  Danilo Moreno Asprilla United Arab Emirates  Al-Ain 1 1 1 1 4
Albania  Besart Berisha Australia  Melbourne Victory 1 1 1 1 4
Brazil  Elkeson China  Shanghai SIPG 1 2 1 4
Morocco  Abderrazak Hamdallah Qatar  El Jaish 1 1 1 1 4
Brazil  China  Jiangsu Suning 1 1 1 1 4
Vietnam  Nguyễn Anh Đức Vietnam  Becamex Bình Dương 1 1 2 4
Brazil  Diego Tardelli China  Shandong Luneng 1 1 1 1 4

Note: Goals scored in the qualifying play-off are not counted when determining top scorer (see regulations, Article 77.4).[2]

Source: the-AFC.com[23][24][25]

Controversies

edit

On 25 January 2016, the AFC announced changes to the group stage schedule due to Saudi Arabia's refusal to play in Iran.[26] After the changes, all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia (including possible play-off winners) were rescheduled to be played on matchdays 5 and 6 (19–20 April and 3–4 May). The venues of these matches would be decided after an evaluation deadline of 15 March 2016. As there had not been a return to normal relations between the two countries by then with Saudi Arabia refusing to lift their travel restrictions to Iran, the AFC accepted the Saudi Arabian Football Federation's proposal of playing all matches between teams from Iran and Saudi Arabia in neutral venues.[27] The Saudi Arabian Football Federation supports its clubs who refuse to travel to Iran.[28] The Iranian Football Federation has stated that it could withdraw from the AFC Champions League due to the venue changes.[29]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Jeonbuk clinch ticket to Japan". FIFA. 26 November 2016. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "2016 AFC Champions League Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC. 28 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Revamp of AFC competitions". AFC. 25 January 2014.
  4. ^ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "AFC MA Ranking as at 3 November 2014" (PDF). AFC.
  6. ^ "AFC Competitions Committee meeting". AFC. 28 November 2014.
  7. ^ "AFC Champions League slots allocated for 2015-2016". AFC. 4 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Slot allocation for ACL 2015 - 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  9. ^ a b c d "Champions Guangzhou Evergrande to learn ACL 2016 opponents". AFC. 4 December 2015.
  10. ^ "ด่วน! "สุพรรณ" แห้ว เอเอฟซีให้สิทธิ์ "ฉลาม" เล่นถ้วยเอเชีย". MGRSport. 15 December 2015.
  11. ^ "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2016" (PDF). AFC.
  12. ^ a b "ACL 2016 quarter-finalists to learn opponents on Thursday". AFC. 8 June 2016.
  13. ^ "AFC Champions League 2016 Group Stage Draw". AFC. 10 December 2015.
  14. ^ a b "ACL 2016 Draw Results" (PDF). AFC.
  15. ^ "AFC Champions League 2016 Group Stage Draw". AFC. 10 December 2015.
  16. ^ "ACL 2016 Draw Results" (PDF). AFC.
  17. ^ a b c d "AFC Champions League draw produces intriguing quarter-final ties". 9 June 2016.
  18. ^ "El Jaish (QAT) vs Nasr (UAE) match forfeited". AFC. 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Omar Abdulrahman lands AFC Champions League 2016 MVP award". AFC. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Adriano named AFC Champions League 2016 top scorer". AFC. 27 November 2016.
  21. ^ "TSG Report: AFC Champions League 2016 - Part 3". AFC. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  22. ^ "The Best ACL2016 XI announced!". Asian Football Confederation. 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2022-05-10.
  23. ^ "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Champions League Group Stage". the-afc.com. AFC.
  24. ^ "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Champions League Round of 16". the-afc.com. AFC.
  25. ^ "Top Goal Scorers (by Stage) – 2016 AFC Champions League Knockout Stage". the-afc.com. AFC.
  26. ^ "Decisions following AFC Competitions Committee meeting". AFC. 25 January 2016.
  27. ^ "Saudi Arabia and Iran clubs to play at neutral venues in Champions League". AFC. 16 March 2016.
  28. ^ "AFC Champions League football matches delayed over Saudi-Iran tension". Gulf News. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 10 October 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  29. ^ Ali Khan, Mir Farhad (2 February 2016). "Iranian clubs could withdraw from AFC Champions League due to venue changes". Persian Football.
edit