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2007 AFC Champions League

2007 AFC Champions League
Tournament details
Dates 7 March – 14 November 2007
Teams 28
Final positions
Champions Japan Urawa Red Diamonds (1st title)
Runners-up Iran Sepahan
Tournament statistics
Matches played 92
Goals scored 230 (2.5 per match)
Top scorer(s) Brazil Mota
(7 goals)
Best player Japan Yuichiro Nagai
2006
2008

The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title.

Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds became champions for the first time, beating Sepahan of Iran and becoming the fourth Japanese club to win the Asian championship, and qualified for the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.

Along with the defending champion, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, 28 other clubs from fourteen countries qualified based on performance in domestic league and cup competitions. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors entered the competition at the quarter-finals.

The draw took place in Kuala Lumpur on 22 December, allocating teams into seven groups. In February, the AFC disqualified Esteghlal Tehran from Group B for failing to register their players in time. This reduced the number of competing teams to 28.

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 eight 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.

Group matches were scheduled to be played over match days on 7 March 21 March 11 April 25 April 9 and 23 May 2007.


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