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| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 6–13 August 2024 Competition proper: 16 September 2024 – 4 May 2025 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 24 (from 12 associations) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 72 |
| Goals scored | 218 (3.03 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Jasir Asani (7 goals) |
← 2023–24 (AFC CL) 2025–26 →
All statistics correct as of 4 December 2024. | |
The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) is the 43rd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite. The revamped format, along with the rebranding, sees 24 teams playing eight games against different opponents in the brand new league phase.[1]
The final stage will be played in Saudi Arabia from 25 April to 4 May 2025.[2] The tournament winner will qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup. Additionally, the winner will enter the league stage of the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Elite, if they have not already qualified through domestic performance.[3]
Al-Ain are the defending champions, as the AFC Champions League records and statistics are carried forward to the ACL Elite.[4]
The associations are allocated slots according to their club competitions ranking which was published after the 2022 competitions were completed.[5]
| Participation for 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite | |
|---|---|
| Participating | |
| Not participating | |
|
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In the following table, the number of appearances and last appearance count since the 2002–03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League.
The schedule of the competition is as follows.[7] All matches will be played on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, apart from the quarter-finals and the final. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final matches will be played at a centralized venue in Saudi Arabia.
| Stage | Round | Draw date | West region | East region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary stage | Preliminary round 1 | No draw[a] | 6 August 2024 | |
| Preliminary round 2 | 13 August 2024 | |||
| League stage | Matchday 1 | 16 August 2024 | 16–17 September 2024 | 17–18 September 2024 |
| Matchday 2 | 30 September–1 October 2024 | 1–2 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 3 | 21–22 October 2024 | 22–23 October 2024 | ||
| Matchday 4 | 4–5 November 2024 | 5–6 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 5 | 25–26 November 2024 | 26–27 November 2024 | ||
| Matchday 6 | 2–3 December 2024 | 3–4 December 2024 | ||
| Matchday 7 | 3–4 February 2025 | 11–12 February 2025 | ||
| Matchday 8 | 17–18 February 2025 | 18–19 February 2025 | ||
| Round of 16[b] | No draw[a] | 3–4 and 10–11 March 2025 | 4–5 and 11–12 March 2025 | |
| Final stage[c] | Quarter-finals | 14 March 2025 | 25–26 April 2025 | |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 April 2025 | |||
| Final | 4 May 2025 | |||
The two winners of the play-off round (one from West Region and one from East Region) advanced to the league stage to join the 22 direct entrants. The losers of the qualifying play-offs entered the group stage of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two.[8]
A total of 2 teams played in the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Sepahan  | 1–4 (a.e.t.) |  Shabab Al-Ahli |
A total of 4 teams played in the play-off round: 3 teams which entered in this round, and 1 winners of the preliminary round.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Al-Gharafa SC  | 1–0 | Shabab Al-Ahli |
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|
Shandong Taishan  | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) |  Bangkok United |
Orange: East Region; 
Blue: West Region
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Al-Hilal (Q)
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 6 | +14 | 16 | Advance to round of 16 |
| 2 | Al-Ahli (Q)
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 16 | |
| 3 | Al-Nassr (Q)
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | +7 | 13 | |
| 4 | Al-Sadd (Q)
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 12 | |
| 5 | Al Wasl (Q)
|
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 11 | |
| 6 | Persepolis
|
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 6 | |
| 7 | Al-Rayyan
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 5 | |
| 8 | Esteghlal
|
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 5 | |
| 9 |  Pakhtakor
|
6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 | |
| 10 | Al-Gharafa
|
6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 4 | |
| 11 | Al Ain
|
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 2 | |
| 12 |  Al-Shorta
|
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 16 | −12 | 2 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Yokohama F. Marinos
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 13 | Advance to round of 16 |
| 2 |  Gwangju
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 13 | |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe
|
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 13 | |
| 4 | Kawasaki Frontale
|
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 12 | |
| 5 | Pohang Steelers
|
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 9 | |
| 6 |  Johor Darul Ta'zim
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 8 | |
| 7 | Shanghai Port
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 8 | |
| 8 | Buriram United
|
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 8 | |
| 9 | Shanghai Shenhua
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 7 | |
| 10 | Shandong Taishan
|
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 7 | |
| 11 | Ulsan HD
|
6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 14 | −11 | 3 | |
| 12 |  Central Coast Mariners (E)
|
6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 17 | −9 | 1 |
A total of 16 teams will qualify for the knockout stage, with each region having 8 teams to qualify.
The first legs will be played on 3–5 March, and the second legs will be played on 10–12 March 2025.
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Region 8th | R16 West 1 | West Region 1st | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 7th | R16 West 2 | West Region 2nd | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 6th | R16 West 3 | West Region 3rd | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| West Region 5th | R16 West 4 | West Region 4th | 3–4 Mar | 10–11 Mar |
| Team 1 | Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Region 8th | R16 East 1 | East Region 1st | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 7th | R16 East 2 | East Region 2nd | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 6th | R16 East 3 | East Region 3rd | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| East Region 5th | R16 East 4 | East Region 4th | 4–5 Mar | 11–12 Mar |
| Rank | Player | Team | MD1 | MD2 | MD3 | MD4 | MD5 | MD6 | MD7 | MD8 | R16-1 | R16-2 | QF | SF | F | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jasir Asani
|
Gwangju
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2 |  Anderson Lopes
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||||||
| 3 | Élber
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||||||
 Aleksandar Mitrović
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Soufiane Rahimi
|
Al Ain
|
1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Matías Vargas
|
Shanghai Port
|
1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Arif Aiman
|
Johor Darul Ta'zim
|
2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||
| Salem Al-Dawsari
|
Al Hilal
|
1 | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Taisei Miyashiro
|
Vissel Kobe
|
1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Cristiano Ronaldo
|
Al Nassr
|
1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||
 Ivan Toney
|
Al-Ahli
|
2 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| 15 | Akram Afif
|
Al Sadd
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Kenta Inoue
|
Yokohama F. Marinos
|
1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
 Joselu
|
Al-Gharafa
|
2 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Marcos Leonardo
|
Al-Hilal
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| André Luis
|
Shanghai Shenhua
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
 Riyad Mahrez
|
Al-Ahli
|
1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Sergej Milinković-Savić
|
Al-Hilal
|
1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Daiju Sasaki
|
Vissel Kobe
|
1 | 1 | 1 |
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