The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draws for the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) League Stage and the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2) Group Stage of the 2024-2025 season in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday (June 16).
The ACLE, which features the top 24 clubs in Asia, will be led by last season’s K League 1 champions Ulsan HD, Korea Cup winners Pohang Steelers and K League 1 runners-up Gwangju FC. The ACL2 group stage will feature 32 clubs, with Jeonbuk Hyundai joining the competition as the 해외 카지노 사이 K League’s fourth-place finishers from last season’s K League 1.
The draw sees Ulsan face Shanghai Haigang (China), Vissel Kobe (Japan), Shandong Taishan (China) and Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) at home and Johor Darul Taqzim (Malaysia), Buriram United (Thailand), Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan) and Shanghai Shenhua (China) away. Pohang has the same home and away schedule as Ulsan. Gwangju, on the other hand, has the opposite home and away schedule to Pohang and Ulsan.
The ACLE East Asia Regional League stage will take place over five months, starting with the first round on September 17 and ending with the eighth round on February 19 next year. Each team will play eight matches, four home and four away, and the top eight teams in each of the East and West Asian leagues will automatically qualify for the Round of 16 at the end of the league stage.
In the ACL2 Group Stage, Jeonbuk will face Selangor FC (Malaysia), Muangthong United (Thailand), and Dynamic Hub Cebu FC (Philippines) in Group H. The ACL2 is divided into eight groups of four teams, with the group stage being played in a home-and-away round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the Round of 16.