2014 AFC Champions League

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2014 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates29 January – 1 November 2014
Teams47 (from 19 associations)
Final positions
Champions
Al-Hilal
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored325 (2.58 per match)
Attendance1,897,236 (15,057 per match)
Top scorer(s)Ghana Asamoah Gyan
(12 goals)
Best player(s)Australia Ante Covic
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The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club

Guangzhou Evergrande were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Western Sydney Wanderers
in the quarter-finals.

In the

Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia 1–0 on aggregate, to become the first Australian team to win the title,[1] and in doing so qualified for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup.[2] The Australian club were making their debut in the competition, having won entry to the competition by winning the 2012–13 A-League Premiership
in their first year of existence.

Allocation of entries per association

The AFC laid out the procedure for deciding the participating associations and the allocation of slots, with inspection of the associations interested in participating in the AFC Champions League to be carried out in 2013, and the final decision to be made by the AFC on 26 November 2013.[3]

The AFC Competitions Committee proposed the following participating criteria for the 2014–2016 editions of the AFC Champions League on 12 March 2013:[4]

  • The top 23 member associations (MAs) as per the AFC rankings can apply either for direct slots or play-off slots.[5] The interested MAs are given points and ranked according to the AFC evaluating system.
  • In both the East and West zones, there are a total of 14 direct slots in the group stage, with the 2 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
  • The top five MAs in both the East and West zones, if they acquire a minimum of 600 points, get direct slots in the group stage, while the remaining MAs, if they meet the minimum requirements, get play-off slots. The following scheme of allocating slots was approved by the AFC for the 2014–16 tournaments:[6]
    • The top two ranked MAs in both the East and West zones get four direct slots each.
    • The third-ranked MAs get three direct and one play-off slot.
    • The fourth-ranked MAs get two direct and two play-off slots.
    • The fifth-ranked MAs get one direct and two play-off slots.
    • The sixth- to eleventh-ranked MAs each get one play-off slot.
  • The maximum number of slots for each MA 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 Cup winners and runners-up are given a play-off slot, regardless of their respective MA's rank, as long as the club meets the minimum criteria. If they have already qualified based on domestic performance, the slot is given to the next eligible club in its MA, as long as the club meets the minimum criteria.

On 26 November 2013, the AFC Executive Committee approved the slots for the 2014 edition of the AFC Champions League.[7][8]

Evaluation for 2014 AFC Champions League
Fulfills criteria (> 600 points)
Does not fulfill criteria, but allocated slots
Not assessed, but allocated slots
Notes
  1. ^ a b c
    The play-off entrant from India is moved to the East Asia Zone.
  2. ^
    Kuwait got one play-off slot based on the AFC Champions League evaluation. Moreover, Al-Kuwait and Al-Qadsia were the 2013 AFC Cup winners and runners-up respectively, and were given play-off slots. However, since they were the only two Kuwaiti clubs which passed the club licensing requirements, Kuwait only had two teams entering the qualifying play-off.[8][9]

Teams

The following teams entered the competition.

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. ^
    Bahrain (BHR): Al-Hidd were chosen to represent Bahrain in the AFC Champions League as they passed the club licensing requirements.[10]
  2. Pune were chosen to represent India in the AFC Champions League as they passed the club licensing requirements.[11]
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Location of teams of the 2014 AFC Champions League.
West Asia Zone
East Asia Zone
(p) Qualifying play-off participants