TEHRAN - Thrilling battle lines were drawn following the conclusion of the AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) 2024/25 season League Stage draw on Friday.

In a pivotal change, the League Stage format will be utilized for the first time in an AFC club competition and features two leagues of 12 teams across the West and East regions.

United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain FC, who won the final season of the AFC Champions League, will meet Qatar sides Al Sadd SC, Al Gharafa and Al Rayyan, Saudi Arabia trio Al Hilal SFC, Al Ahli Saudi FC and Al Nassr and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor and  Al Shorta of Iraq. 

Two-time AFC Champions League winners Ulsan HD, will face China PR’s Shanghai Port FC, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan, Japan’s Vissel Kobe, Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale, Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia and Buriram United of Thailand, the-afc.com reported.

The line-up – comprising 22 teams that qualified directly and two Preliminary Stage winners – were placed into two pots within each region for the draw.

For each region, every club were drawn into their respective position in the Draw Grid – Pot 1 clubs occupied any of the top two rows (A1 to C2) and Pot 2 clubs the bottom two (A3 to C4), which ensured they play against eight different sides from the other columns (e.g. clubs in column A were paired against clubs from columns B and C). 

The Pairings Grid ensures that each team will play four home and four away matches against an equal number of clubs from Pots 1 and 2. An identical process applies to clubs in the East region, which were classified from D1 to D4, E1 to E4 and F1 to F4.

The country protection principle was in force during the draw and a bespoke draw software was utilized to prevent any deadlock situations from occurring.

The top eight finishers of each League progress to the Round of 16, scheduled for March 2025, which will be followed by a unique centralized Finals that sees all matches from the Quarter-finals onwards being contested in Saudi Arabia between April 25 and May 4, 2025.

Teams

West: Pakhtakor (UZB), Al Sadd SC (QAT), Persepolis FC (IRN), Al Hilal SFC (KSA), Al Shorta (IRQ), Al Ain FC (UAE), Al Nassr (KSA), Al Rayyan SC (QAT), Esteghlal FC (IRN), Al Ahli Saudi FC (KSA), Al Gharafa SC (QAT), Al Wasl FC (UAE)

East: Ulsan HD FC (KOR), Shanghai Port FC (CHN), Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (MAS), Central Coast Mariners (AUS), Buriram United (THA), Vissel Kobe (JPN), FC Pohang Steelers (KOR), Shandong Taishan FC (CHN), Yokohama F Marinos (JPN), Gwangju FC (KOR), Shanghai Shenhua FC (CHN), Kawasaki Frontale (JPN)