Upsets in group stage
Leading contenders for the AFC Champions League fall at the first hurdle
At one time, the group stage of the Asian Champions League used to take place over a period of three months. But this year, due to COVID circumstances, it happened over the space of a few weeks in April and May. Clubs from the usual suspects of Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea provided eight of the 16 teams that made it to the knockout stages, but that does not mean there were no surprises.
The tournament is divided into two geographic halves until the final, and in the western zone, Qatari powerhouse Al Sadd were the biggest failures.
It didn’t help that all five groups in the west were hosted in Saudi Arabia, but even without any home advantage, Al Sadd were seen as good enough to not only get out of their group but to win the whole thing. This is a team that won their league unbeaten for the second season running, had Santi Cazorla and Andre Ayew pulling the strings as well as the Algerian goal machine Baghdad Bounedjah and much of Qatar’s national team. Coach Xavi may have left for Barcelona but former Watford and Valencia boss Javi Gracia had picked up where his countryman had left off.
But just like Xavi last year, Gracia failed in Asia as the Doha club finished third in their group.
Saudi Arabia dominated. The Riyadh duo, defending champions Al Hilal and Al Shabab, made it look easy by progressing with games to spare, and were joined by debutants Al Faisaly.
The one Saudi team to not make it, Al Taawoun, fell foul of Al Duhail. The free-scoring Qataris, taken over by Argentine Hernan Crespo in March, have the firepower with Edmilson Junior finishing as top scorer in the group stage with eight goals. With Kenya’s Michael Olunga and Qatar’s star striker Almoez Ali in attack, they have a front-line that can score for fun, yet the defence has issues – despite the presence of Belgium centre-back Toby Alderweireld.
Al Rayyan, even without injured Colombian James Rodriguez, made it through as one of the best runners-up to give Qatar a second representative in the second round.
The UAE saw Sharjah and Al Jazira exit but Shabab Al Ahli recovered from a shaky start to give the country a team in the last16, while Foolad made sure that Iranian fans have a club to cheer following the disqualification of giants Persepolis and Esteghlal. Nasaf Qarshi of Uzbekistan complete the eight teams from the western zone.
There were encouraging performances from Mumbai City who became the first Indian team to win a game in the tournament and even finished second behind Al Shabab.
From 2005 to 2019, only one western team (Al Sadd in 2011) lifted the trophy as the east dominated. Yet that era feels over now with Al Hilal winning two of the last three.
On the eastern side, the Southeast Asian countries Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand hosted the five groups. While Japan and South Korea contributed five of the eight teams to progress (Urawa Reds, Yokohama F. Marinos and Vissel Kobe from the J.League and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Daegu FC from the K-League), others floundered.
With the Chinese Super League season scheduled to start at a similar time (though it did not), teams knew they would struggle to either leave the country due to lockdown or return home in time due to strict entry requirements. It led to Shanghai Port withdrawing and the other two, Guangzhou FC (Asian champions in 2013 and 2015) and Chinese champions Shandong Taishan, to send youth teams. They collected just one point between them, scoring two goals and conceding 48.
Australian woes in the tournament continued. Melbourne City looked like becoming only the second A-League team to progress to the second round since 2016 but stumbled right at the end. Sydney FC however, were never in contention.
The surprise in the east was that 2012 and 2020 champions Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea as well as Kawasaki Frontale, who have won four of the last five Japanese titles, finished behind Johor Darul Ta’zim and were eliminated. JDT became Malaysia’s first-ever representatives in the knockout stages and, while they were helped by playing all the games in their home stadium, it was a significant achievement.
Southeast Asia has another team in the next round as BG Pathum United of Thailand won their group. Another notable name in the knockout stage is Kitchee of Hong Kong squeezing through behind big-spending Vissel Kobe of Japan.
The eastern zone starts its second round in August while those from the west have to wait until next February. It means that the sense that there are two separate tournaments in Asia has strengthened but it still looks like one of the big names will be there at the end.
Al Sadd were seen as good enough to not only get out of their group but to win the whole thing