The 2018 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the

2018 AFC Champions League The 2018 AFC Champions League was the 37th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 16th under the current AFC Champions League title. Kashima Antlers won the title for the f ...

, the 37th edition of the top-level Asian club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament organized by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

(AFC), and the 16th under the current

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

title. The final was contested in a two-legged home-and-away format between

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

from

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, who both made their first Champions League final appearances. The first leg was hosted by Kashima Antlers at the

Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

on 10 November 2018. This was the first AFC Champions League final involving an Iranian club since Zob Ahan in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Kashima Antlers won the final 2–0 on aggregate for their first AFC Champions League title. As winners, they earned the right to represent the AFC at the

2018 FIFA Club World Cup The 2018 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 presented by Alibaba Cloud for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament betw ...

, entering at the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...

Teams

''In the following table, finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, since 2003 were in the AFC Champions League era.''

Venues

The 2018 AFC Champions League Final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format, held at the home of both finalists. It is the sixth consecutive year that the AFC adopted such an arrangement.

's home venue, 40,728 seater

Kashima Soccer Stadium is a football stadium in the city of Kashima, in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is the home stadium of the Kashima Antlers, a team in the J1 League. The stadium has a capacity of 40,728.Azadi Stadium The Azadi Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آزادی Varzešgâh''-è Âzâdi''), opened as the Aryamehr Stadium ( fa, ورزشگاه آریامهر Varzešgâh-è ''Âryâmehr''), is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium wa ...

hosted the second leg. It is the third time that an Asian club final played in the Azadi Stadium, with the previous final being

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. One of the problems for Azadi's hosting was women's presence at stadium ban, which is runs since 1979. Persepolis officials promised to provide their presence. The stadium also had minor renovations after Persepolis' qualification to the final.

Background

Both

and

reached their first final. Persepolis became the fifth different Iranian side, third in the AFC Champions League era to qualify for the final. It was the first time since

that an Iranian side qualified for the final, Zob Ahan losing 1–3 to

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

of South Korea, that time around. They faced some tough opponents on their road to the final, the highlight being their challengers in the semifinal —

Al-Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd (Qatar), Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, whic ...

of Qatar who lined up with

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

great

Xavi Xavier Hernández Creus (born 25 January 1980), known as Xavi is a Spanish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the manager of La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Widely con ...

in the midfield and former

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

legend Gabi manning the defence.

became the seventh different Japanese side, third in the AFC Champions League era to qualify for the final. They made consecutive appearances for Japanese clubs in the final,

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

winning 2–1 on aggregate against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the previous edition. They were the runners-up of the

2016 FIFA Club World Cup The 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament ...

where they lost 2–4 to the Spanish giants

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in extra time.

Road to the final

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

Format

The final was played on a home-and-away

two-legged In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum o ...

basis, with the order of legs (first leg hosted by team from the East Region, second leg hosted by team from the West Region) reversed from the previous season's final. The

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

(away goals do not apply in extra time) and

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations, Section 3. 11.2 & 11.3).

Officials

Ma Ning Ma Ning (; 1922 – 3 December 2010) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and major general of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). A decorated army veteran of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, he transferred ...

from China has been chosen to officiate the first leg match. He has been a full international referee for

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

since 2011.

Ahmed Al-Kaf Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al-Kaf (born 1983) is an Omani professional football referee. He has been a full international for FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Associa ...

from Oman also officiated the second leg.

Pre-match

Ambassador

The ambassador for the first leg final was former Brazilian footballer and Kashima Antlers legend Zico. Zico is currently technical manager of the team and brought the trophy before the first match. For the second leg, Persepolis announced its legend

Ali Parvin Ali Parvin ( fa, علی پروين ; born 25 September 1946) is a retired Iranian football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Iranian footballers. During his career, he has been associated mainly with Persepolis, pla ...

as the ambassador.

Ticketing

With a stadium capacity of 90,000 for the second leg final, a total of 84,412 tickets were available to fans and the general public, with the guest team had 5,000 tickets. The price of the tickets was: 800,000

Rial Rial, riyal, or RIAL may refer to: * Rial (surname), a surname (and list of people with the name) * Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, McGill University * Rial Racing, a former German Formula One team Various currencies named rial ...

($19), 500,000 Rial ($12) and 300,000 Rial ($7).

Opening ceremony

Iranian singer

Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh Mohsen Ebrahimzadeh ( fa, محسن ابراهیم‌زاده; born September 8, 1987, in Tehran) is an Iranian pop singer and musician. He performed at the 2018 AFC Champions League Final between Persepolis and the Kashima Antlers. His bigge ...

performed at the opening ceremony preceding the second leg final. The time of concert was 8 minutes and two songs performed. One of the songs was be English and other

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Matches

First leg

Summary

2018 AFC Champions League Final Persepolis v Kashima Antlers

The first big chance fell to the visitors when a cross from the right was nodded into the path of Ali Alipour in the fourth minute. Just eight yards from goal, the striker looked certain to score but Jung Seung-hyun threw himself into the path of the shot and blocked it with his head. Two minutes later, Ahmad Nourollahi's free-kick from the left was tipped over by Kwoun Sun-tae as Persepolis applied early pressure. Kashima worked their way back into the game but the away side's threat on the break was demonstrated when Hiroki Abe was booked for a cynical foul on Bashar Resan as the midfielder surged forward. The hosts finally created an opening in the 25th minute as

Daigo Nishi is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a right back for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. Club career Youth period He played as a regular member in U-15, U-18 Consadole Sapporo (currently J league Div.1). In U-15 team ...

's cushioned header found

Yuma Suzuki is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Kashima Antlers. Club career Kashima Antlers Suzuki joined the Kashima Antlers youth system at the age of 7 in 2003. After scoring two goals and leading Kashima Antlers t ...

. But the striker's shot from a narrow angle flashed well wide of the far post. Six minutes later, Kashima had another opportunity when a through ball from

Shoma Doi is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Kashima Antlers. He has 2 caps for the Japan national football team. Club career Doi is currently a one-club player, having played exclusively for Kashima Ant ...

put Serginho through. The Brazilian created an angle for his shot but Shoja' Khalilzadeh slid in to make a vital block. Kashima made the first chance of the second half when Abe instigated a move that ended with Serginho laying the ball back for Silva. The Brazilian tried to curl a shot into the top corner but his attempt drifted wide. But Silva soon had reason to celebrate as he gave Kashima the lead in the 58th minute. The midfield man played a neat one-two with Shoma on the edge of the Persepolis penalty area and cut inside before curling a low left-footed shot into the corner from 18 yards. Kashima then added their second in the 70th minute. The ball broke to

Kento Misao is a Japanese professional footballer who will play as a defensive midfielder or a centre back for Belgian Pro League club OH Leuven Club career Converted to a central midfielder during his time in Tokyo Verdy's youth ranks, after a short tr ...

20 yards out and he played a deft pass into the path of Serginho on the right and the Brazilian placed his shot into the far corner from the edge of the six-yard box. There was a further blow for Persepolis as Siamak Nemati received his second yellow card in added time and the midfielder would miss the second leg.

Details

Statistics

Second leg

Summary

Persepolis, known for their mean defence, had no option but to attack, but Kashima goalkeeper Kwoun Sun-tae put in a virtuoso performance. Kwoun, for whom this was a third Asian crown following two with South Korea's

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup S ...

, was at the top of his game, keeping the Iranians, especially Ali Alipour and

Bashar Resan Bashar Resan Bonyan Albu-Mohammed ( ar, بشار رسن بنيان; born 22 December 1996) is an Iraqi professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Qatar SC and the Iraq national football team, Iraq national team. ...

at bay. Seven minutes before half-time Resan muscled his way past two defenders close to the Kashima goal, but failed to beat Kwoun at his near post. Persepolis coach

Branko Ivankovic Branko (Cyrillic script: Бранко; ) is a South Slavic male given name found in all of the former Yugoslavia. It is related to the names Branimir and Branislav, and the female equivalent is Branka. People named Branko include: * Branko Babi ...

sent on Mohsen Rabiekhah and Ehsan Alvanzadeh in a desperate attempt to break the deadlock but to no avail. After winning the home leg 2–0, the Japanese team held Persepolis to a goalless stalemate in Iran to clinch their first-ever title in the tournament.

Details

Statistics

Incidents

People watching 2018 AFC Champions League final at Tehran's Laleh Park 04

An Iranian pitch invader skipped to the ground in the 21st minute of the match in Japan. He brought an Iranian Empire flag, which now symbolizes the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

and was also wearing a shirt with the image of

Abdolfattah Soltani Abdolfattah Soltani ( fa, عبدالفتاح سلطانی; born 2 November 1953) is an Iranian human rights lawyer and spokesman for the Defenders of Human Rights Center. He co-founded the group with Mohammad Seifzadeh and Nobel Peace Prize-winne ...

, a controversial Iranian judge. Hundreds of Iranian women were allowed to attend the second leg; Iranian female fans had been barred from attending official matches in Iran since the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

References

External links

*, the-AFC.com
AFC Champions League 2018
stats.the-AFC.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Afc Champions League Final 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

*Final November 2018 sports events in Iran International club association football competitions hosted by Japan International club association football competitions hosted by Iran Kashima Antlers matches Persepolis F.C. matches November 2018 sports events in Japan

Teams

Venues

Background

Road to the final

Format

Officials

Pre-match

Ambassador

Ticketing

Opening ceremony

Matches

First leg

Summary

Details

Statistics

Second leg

Summary

Details

Statistics

Incidents

See also

References

External links