final.[4] Ulsan automatically qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League (although they had already qualified through their domestic performance), the first time since 2008 that the AFC Champions League holders were guaranteed automatic qualification in the following year.[5][6] They also earned the right to play in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup
in Qatar.
The tournament was the last to involve 32 teams during the group stage, which increased to 40 teams in 2021.[7]
The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after group stage matches on 4 March 2020,[8] and restarted on 14 September 2020.[9] All matches after the restart were played in Qatar,[10][11][12] with the final played at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, but the club effectively withdrew from the competition when they could not name the required 13 players for their final group stage match, as all but 11 players had tested positive for COVID-19.[13][14] For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was in use from the quarter-finals onwards.[15]
In each region, there were four groups in the group stage, including a total of 12 direct slots, with the 4 remaining slots filled through play-offs.
The top 12 associations in each region as per the AFC rankings were eligible to enter the AFC Champions League, as long as they fulfilled the AFC Champions League criteria.
The top six associations in each region got at least one direct slot in the group stage, while the remaining associations got only play-off slots (as well as AFC Cup group stage slots):
The associations ranked 1st and 2nd each got three direct slots and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 3rd and 4th each got two direct slots and two play-off slots.
The associations ranked 5th each got one direct slot and two play-off slots.
The associations ranked 6th each got one direct slot and one play-off slot.
The associations ranked 7th to 12th each got one play-off slot.
The maximum number of slots for each association was one-third of the total number of eligible teams in the top division.
If any association gave up its direct slots, they were redistributed to the highest eligible association, with each association limited to a maximum of three direct slots.
If any association gave up its play-off slots, they were annulled and not redistributed to any other association.
Association ranking
For the 2020 AFC Champions League, the associations were allocated slots according to their
FIFA World Rankings, during the period between 2014 and 2017.[16][18]
A-League, only had nine Australia-based teams in the 2018–19 season, so Australia could only get a maximum of three total slots (Entry Manual 5.4).[16]
Syria (SYR): Syria did not have any teams which had an AFC Champions League license.[19]
Teams
The following 52 teams from 23 associations 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.
Singapore (SIN):DPMM, the 2019 Singapore Premier League champions, were a team from Brunei and thus ineligible to represent Singapore in AFC club competitions. As a result, Tampines Rovers, the league runners-up, entered the qualifying play-offs.
Vietnam (VIE):Hà Nội, the 2019 V.League 1 champions, failed to obtain an AFC license as their U15 team did not participate in Vietnam National U-15 Youth League.[20] As a result, Ho Chi Minh City, the league runners-up, entered the qualifying play-offs.
Location of teams of the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage. Brown: Group A; Red: Group B; Orange: Group C; Yellow: Group D; Green: Group E; Blue: Group F; Purple: Group G; Pink: Group H;
Qualifying play-offs
Schedule
The schedule of the competition was as follows.[21] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only some of the group stage matches on matchdays 1–3 in February and March were played as scheduled, and all matches on matchdays 4–6 were postponed until further notice.[8] The round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals were also initially moved to 10–12 and 24–26 August, 14–16 and 28–30 September, and 20–21 and 27–28 October.[22][23]
The AFC announced the calendar of the remaining matches on 9 July 2020, with all matches before the final played at centralised venues, and all knockout ties played as a single match.[9] On 10 September 2020, the AFC announced the new dates for the East Region matches and the final.[24]
Notes:
W: West Region
E: East Region
Italics: new dates after restart
Stage
Round
Draw date
Match dates
Preliminary stage
Preliminary round 1
No draw
14 January 2020
Preliminary round 2
21 January 2020
Play-off stage
Play-off round
28 January 2020
Group stage
Matchday 1
10 December 2019
10–12 February 2020, 18–19 November 2020 (E)
Matchday 2
17–19 February 2020, 21–22 November 2020 (E)
Matchday 3
3–4 March 2020 (E), 14–15 September 2020 (W), 24–25 November 2020 (E)
Matchday 4
17–18 September 2020 (W), 27–28 November 2020 (E)
Matchday 5
20–21 September 2020 (W), 30 November – 1 December 2020 (E)
Matchday 6
23–24 September 2020 (W), 3–4 December 2020 (E)
Knockout stage
Round of 16
26–27 September 2020 (W), 6–7 December 2020 (E)
Quarter-finals
28 September 2020 (W) 8 December 2020 (E)
30 September 2020 (W), 10 December 2020 (E)
Semi-finals
3 October 2020 (W), 13 December 2020 (E)
Final
19 December 2020
The original schedule of the competition, as planned before the pandemic, was as follows.
In the qualifying play-offs, each tie was played as a single match. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 9.2).[3]
The bracket of the qualifying play-offs for each region was determined based on the association ranking of each team, with the team from the higher-ranked association hosting the match.[25] Teams from the same association could not be placed into the same tie. The eight winners of the play-off round (four each from both West Region and East Region) advanced to the group stage to join the 24 direct entrants. All losers in each round from associations with only play-off slots entered the AFC Cup group stage.
The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.
In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but moved to centralised venues after restart. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage.
Tiebreakers
The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5):[3]
Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;(this tiebreaker was removed since the matches were played in centralised venues after restart)
If more than two teams were tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams were still tied, all head-to-head criteria above were reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
Goal difference in all group matches;
Goals scored in all group matches;
Penalty shoot-out if only two teams playing each other in the last round of the group were tied;
Disciplinary points (yellow card = 1 point, red card as a result of two yellow cards = 3 points, direct red card = 3 points, yellow card followed by direct red card = 4 points);
^Al-Wahda were unable to travel to Qatar to play the final four matches of the group stage due to several team members testing positive for COVID-19.[27] They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.[28]
Shabab Al-Ahli due to them having only 11 players left with the remaining team members testing positive for COVID-19. They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.[13]
^Johor Darul Ta'zim were unable to travel to Qatar to play the final four matches of the group stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions after they were denied permission to travel by the Malaysian government.[29] They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all previous matches played by them shall be considered "null and void" and would not be considered in determining the final group rankings.[30]
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. Each tie was played as a single-leg match at centralised venues, instead of the usual home-and-away two-legged basis as planned before the COVID-19 pandemic. Extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.
Bracket
The bracket was decided after the draw for the quarter-finals. The draw for the West Region quarter-finals was held on 28 September 2020, 11:00
In the round of 16, the winners of one group played against the runners-up of another group from the same region and the matchups were determined by the group stage draw.
In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Region played in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region played in two ties, with the matchups decided by draw, without any seeding or country protection. The draw for the West Region quarter-finals was held on 28 September 2020,[31][32] and the draw for the East Region quarter-finals was held on 8 December 2020.[33][34]
In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Region played against each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Region played against each other.
Note: Abderrazak Hamdallah finished ahead of Júnior Negrão to win the Top Scorer award despite scoring the same number of goals, and also having the same number of assists (first tiebreaker), since he played fewer minutes throughout the competition (second tiebreaker).[1]
Yokohama F. Marinos
FC TokyoSeoul Capital Area teams
Suwon Samsung Bluewings
FC Seoul
Brown: Group A; 
Red: Group B; 
Orange: Group C; 
Yellow: Group D;
