A total of 16 teams, 8 from West Asia and 8 from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage. They included the 8 group winners and the 8 group runners-up from the group stage.

Each round of this single-elimination tournament was played over one or two matches. In the round of 16, each tie was played in one match, hosted by the winners of each group against the runners-up of another group. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The final was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shootout would be used to decide the winner if necessary.[1]

The matchups for the round of 16 were decided prior to the group stage draw.[2] After the completion of the round of 16, the draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011.[3] In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.

Qualified teams

Group Winners Runners-up
A Iran Sepahan Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
B Qatar Al-Sadd Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
C Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad Uzbekistan Bunyodkor
D Iran Zob Ahan Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
E Japan Gamba Osaka China Tianjin Teda
F South Korea FC Seoul Japan Nagoya Grampus
G South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Japan Cerezo Osaka
H South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings Japan Kashima Antlers

Bracket

While the bracket below shows the entire knockout stage, the draw for the round of 16 matches was determined at the time of the group draw, and kept teams from East and West Asia completely separate for that round.

The draw for the quarter-finals and beyond was held separately, after the conclusion of the round of 16.

Round of 16 Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad 3
Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 1
Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad 3 0 3
South Korea FC Seoul 1 1 2
South Korea FC Seoul 3
Japan Kashima Antlers 0
Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad 2 1 3
South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3 2 5
Japan Gamba Osaka 0
Japan Cerezo Osaka 1
Japan Cerezo Osaka 4 1 5
South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3 6 9
South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3
China Tianjin Teda 0
South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2 (2)
Qatar Al-Sadd (p) 2 (4)
South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2
Japan Nagoya Grampus 0
South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings (a.e.t.) 1 2 3
Iran Zob Ahan 1 1 2
Iran Zob Ahan 4
Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr 1
South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings 0 1 1
Qatar Al-Sadd 2 0 2
Iran Sepahan 3
Uzbekistan Bunyodkor 1
Iran Sepahan 0 2 2
Qatar Al-Sadd [A] 3 1 4
Qatar Al-Sadd 1
Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab 0

Round of 16

The matches were played 24–25 May 2011.[4][5]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
West Asia
Sepahan Iran 3–1 Uzbekistan Bunyodkor
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia 3–1 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Al-Sadd Qatar 1–0 Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
Zob Ahan Iran 4–1 Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
Team 1  Score  Team 2
East Asia
Gamba Osaka Japan 0–1 Japan Cerezo Osaka
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea 3–0 China Tianjin Teda
FC Seoul South Korea 3–0 Japan Kashima Antlers
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea 2–0 Japan Nagoya Grampus

Matches

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea3 – 0China Tianjin Teda
Eninho 32', 84'
Lee Seung-Hyun 43'		 Report
Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju
Attendance: 5,254
Referee: Ali Al Badwawi (UAE)
Gamba Osaka Japan0 – 1Japan Cerezo Osaka
Report Takahashi 88'
Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita
Attendance: 16,463
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)
Sepahan Iran3 – 1Uzbekistan Bunyodkor
Januário 28'
Touré 33'
Aghili 69' (pen.)		 Report Slavoljub Đorđević 57'
Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan
Attendance: 6,318
Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia3 – 1Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
Nuno Assis 15', 59'
Ziaya 17'		 Report Al-Dosari 82'
Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 17,150
Referee: Kim Dong-Jin (Korea Republic)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea2 – 0Japan Nagoya Grampus
Yeom Ki-Hun 23'
Lee Sang-ho 57'		 Report
Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
Attendance: 11,036
Referee: Abdulrahman Abdou (Qatar)
FC Seoul South Korea3 – 0Japan Kashima Antlers
Bang Seung-Hwan 38'
Damjanović 55'
Ko Myong-Jin 90+2'		 Report
Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
Attendance: 12,725
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)
Zob Ahan Iran4 – 1Saudi Arabia Al-Nassr
Ghazi 1'
Castro 5', 63'
Kheiri 74'		 Report Al-Mutwa 66'
Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan
Attendance: 5,711
Referee: Choi Myung-Yong (Korea Republic)
Al-Sadd Qatar1 – 0Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
Koni 12' Report
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 7,140
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

Quarter-finals

The first legs were played 14 September 2011, and the second legs were played 27–28 September 2011.[4]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cerezo Osaka Japan 5–9 South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4–3 1–6
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia 3–2 South Korea FC Seoul 3–1 0–1
Sepahan Iran 2–4 Qatar Al-Sadd 0–3[A] 2–1
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea 3–2 Iran Zob Ahan 1–1 2–1 (aet)
Notes
  1. ^
    The AFC Disciplinary Committee decided to award the quarter-final first leg to Al-Sadd against Sepahan as a 3–0 forfeit win after Sepahan were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player. The match originally ended 1–0 to Sepahan.[6]

First legs

Cerezo Osaka Japan4 – 3South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Bando 29'
Kiyotake 56', 81'
Kim Bo-Kyung 64' (pen.)		 Report Lee Dong-Gook 6', 45+1'
Cho Sung-Hwan 58'
Nagai Stadium, Osaka
Attendance: 15,450
Referee: Tan Hai (China PR)
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea1 – 1Iran Zob Ahan
Park Hyun-Beom 66' Report Ghazi 57'
Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
Attendance: 7,659
Referee: Masaaki Toma (Japan)
Sepahan Iran0 – 3
Awarded[A]		Qatar Al-Sadd
Ebrahimi 12' Report
Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan
Attendance: 5,621
Referee: Ben Williams (Australia)
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia3 – 1South Korea FC Seoul
Noor 45'
Al-Muwallad 76'
Wendel 90+2'		 Report Choi Tae-Uk 83'
Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 16,790
Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Second legs

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea6 – 1Japan Cerezo Osaka
Eninho 31'
Lee Dong-Gook 49', 55', 64', 90+1'
Kim Dong-Chan 76'		 Report Komatsu 72'
Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju
Attendance: 16,423
Referee: Abdulrahman Abdou (Qatar)

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 9–5 on aggregate.

FC Seoul South Korea1 – 0Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
Molina 85' Report
Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Al-Ittihad won 3–2 on aggregate.

Zob Ahan Iran1 – 2 (a.e.t.)South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Ghazi 50' Report Yang Sang-Min 77'
Neretljak 99' (pen.)
Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan
Attendance: 7,250
Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 3–2 on aggregate.

Al-Sadd Qatar1 – 2Iran Sepahan
Niang 86' Report Emad 7'
Ashjari 27'
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 6,026
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

Al-Sadd won 4–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

The first legs were played 19 October 2011, and the second legs were played 26 October 2011.[4]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea 1–2 Qatar Al-Sadd 0–2 1–0
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia 3–5 South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2–3 1–2

First legs

Suwon Samsung Bluewings South Korea0 – 2Qatar Al-Sadd
Report Niang 70', 81'
Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon
Attendance: 9,864
Referee: Malik Abdul Bashir (Singapore)
Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia2 – 3South Korea Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Hazazi 6', 18' Report Eninho 2'
Son Seung-Joon 57'
Cho Sung-Hwan 77'
Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah
Attendance: 16,942
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Second legs

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea2 – 1Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
Eninho 22', 36' Report Wendel 73'
Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju
Attendance: 17,069
Referee: Andre El Haddad (Lebanon)

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 5–3 on aggregate.

Al-Sadd Qatar0 – 1South Korea Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Report Oh Jang-Eun 7'
Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha
Attendance: 10,800
Referee: Ali Al Badwawi (UAE)

Al-Sadd won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2011 AFC Champions League Final

The final was played 5 November 2011 at home of one of the finalists, decided by draw.[1][4] This format is different from the 2009 and 2010 editions, where the final was played at a neutral venue.[7]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors South Korea2 – 2 (a.e.t.)Qatar Al-Sadd
Eninho 17'
Lee Seung-Hyun 90+2'		 Report Sim Woo-Yeon 30' (o.g.)
Keïta 61'
Penalties
Eninho soccer ball with check mark
Kim Dong-Chan soccer ball with red X
Park Won-Jae soccer ball with red X
Kim Sang-Sik soccer ball with check mark		 2 – 4 soccer ball with check mark Niang
soccer ball with check mark Al-Haydos
soccer ball with red X Lee Jung-Soo
soccer ball with check mark Majid
soccer ball with check mark Belhadj
Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju
Attendance: 41,805
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

References

  1. ^ a b "AFC Champions League 2011 Competitions Regulations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  2. ^ "AFC Champions League 2011 Draw Mechanism for Play-off Stage & Preliminary Stage (Group & Round of 16)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  3. ^ Korea challenge for former champions
  4. ^ a b c d "2011 AFC Champions League Official Match Schedule" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
  5. ^ ACL: Juicy encounters in offing
  6. ^ AFC Disciplinary Committee sanctions Sepahan
  7. ^ AFC Competitions Committee decisions

External links

2011 in Asian Football (AFC)
Category