The 2008 AFC Champions League was the 27th
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 ...
, 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, and the 6th under the current AFC Champions League title. It was the last AFC Champions League before the competition expanded to 32 teams.
Participating clubs
Along with the defending champion,
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 ...
, 28 other clubs from fourteen countries qualified based on performance in domestic league and cup competitions.
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 ...
entered the competition at the quarter-finals. The draw for group stage took place on 12 December 2007.
† In the 2008 edition, Indonesia were allocated two slots just like the older editions. However, on 12 December 2007, AFC awarded one Indonesian slots to Thailand and the other one to Vietnam, due to delay in Indonesian domestic league and cup tournament,
Format
;Group stage
A total of 28 clubs were divided into seven groups of four, based on region, i.e. East Asian and Southeast Asian clubs were drawn in groups E to G, while the rest were grouped in groups A to D. Each club played double round-robin (home and away) against the other three teams in their group, a total of 6 matches each. Clubs received three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The clubs were ranked according to points and tie breakers were in the following order:
* Points earned between the clubs in question
* Goal difference between the clubs in question
* Goal difference within the group
* Goals for within the group
The seven group winners and the defending champion advanced to the quarter-finals.
;Knockout stage
All eight clubs were randomly paired together, with the restriction that clubs from the same country could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The games were played over two legs, home and away; the team with the higher aggregate score was declared the match winner. If the aggregate score could not produce a winner, "away goals rule" was used. If the two teams were still tied, extra time was played, at the end of which the "away goals rule" was again applied if the scores were tied. If still tied, the game would go to penalties.
Schedule
;Group stage draw - 12 December 2007
*Group round: 12–19 March, 9–23 April, 7–21 May
;Knockout stage draw - 24 May 2008
*Quarter-finals: 17–24 September
*Semi-finals: 8–22 October
*Final: 5 and 12 November
Group stage
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Group E
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Group F
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;Notes
*
Note 2:
Nam Định
Nam Định () is a city in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. It is the capital of Nam Định Province. The city of Nam Định is 90 km south-east of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi. From August 18–20 of each year, there is a festival hel ...
played their home matches at
Mỹ Đình National Stadium,
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
as their own
Thiên Trường Stadium
Thiên Trường Stadium ( vi, Sân vận động Thiên Trường, literally ''Heaven's Place Stadium''), previously known as Chùa Cuối Stadium (''Last Temple Stadium''), is a multi-use stadium in Nam Định, Vietnam.
It was often named as " ...
did not meet AFC criteria.
Group G
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;Notes
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Note 3:
Chonburi
Chonburi ( th, ชลบุรี, , IAST: , ) is the capital of Chonburi Province and Mueang Chonburi District in Thailand. It is about 100 km southeast of Bangkok, on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand. Its name means 'city of water'. Chonb ...
played their home matches at
Supachalasai Stadium,
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
as their own
Chonburi Municipality Stadium
Chonburi Stadium ( th, ชลบุรีสเตเดียม หรือ สนาม อบจ. ชลบุรี) is a multi-use stadium in Chonburi Province, Thailand. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home st ...
did not meet AFC criteria.
Knock-out stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
The first leg matches were played on 17 September, and the second leg matches were played on 24 September 2008.
Semi-finals
The first leg matches were played on 8 October, and the second leg matches were played on 22 October 2008.
Final
The first and second legs of the final were played on 5 and 12 November 2008, respectively.
Top scorers
The top scorers from the 2008 AFC Champions League are as follows:
Fair Play Award
Gamba Osaka
is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...
See also
*
2008 FIFA Club World Cup
The 2008 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth FIFA Club World Cup, a football tournament for the champion clubs from each of FIFA's six continental c ...
References
External links
AFC Champions League Official Page (English)AFC Champions League on goalzz.comAFC Calendar of Events 2008
{{2008 in Asian football (AFC)
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
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