2004 AFC Champions League
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 10 February - 1 December 2004 |
| Teams | 26 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Al-Ittihad (1st title)
|
| Runners-up |  Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 80 |
| Goals scored | 252 (3.15 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Kim Do-hoon (9 goals) |
The 2004 AFC Champions League was the 23rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 2nd edition under the current AFC Champions League title. The title was won by Al-Ittihad over Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.
A total of 28 clubs were divided into 7 groups of four, based on region i.e. East Asian and Southeast Asian clubs were drawn in groups E to G, while the rest were grouped in groups A to D. Each club played double round-robin (home and away) against fellow three group members, a total of 6 matches each. Clubs received 3pts for a win, 1pt for a tie, 0pts for a loss. The clubs were ranked according to points and tie breakers were in the following order:
The seven group winners along with the defending champion advanced to the quarter-finals.
All 8 clubs were randomly matched; however, the only restriction was that the clubs from the same country could not face each other in the quarter-finals. The games were conducted in 2 legs, home and away, and the aggregate score decided the match winner. If the aggregate score couldn't produce a winner, "away goals rule" was used. If still tied, clubs played extra time, where "away goals rule" still applied. If still tied, the game went to penalties.
1 Riffa withdrew, citing security concerns; they were suspended from AFC competitions for two years.
1 On 20 April, following the match between Al-Qadisiya and Al-Sadd, Kuwaiti security personnel assaulted the visiting players; Al-Qadisiya were ejected from the competition and banned from AFC competitions for three years. Their record was expunged.
1 Al-Ahli withdrew following the decision by the Bahraini FA to retain 7 of their players for the national team and Olympic squads for their World Cup and Olympic Games qualifying matches; no penalties were imposed.
First-leg home team shown first. First-leg home team score shown first for both legs.
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