2019 AFC Champions League

The 2019 AFC Champions League is the 38th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 17th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The winners of the 2019 AFC Champions League will qualify for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar. The runners-up will also qualify if the AFC Champions League winners are from Qatar. Kashima Antlers are the title holders.

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.

Preliminary round 1

 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Preliminary round 2

 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Play-off round

 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in 22 November 2018, 16:30 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group.

Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams play a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. Each tie is played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 11.3).

Round of 16
In the round of 16, the winners of one group play the runners-up of another group from the same region, with the group winners hosting the second leg, and the matchups determined by the group stage draw.


 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Quarter-finals
In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Region play in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding or country protection.


 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Semi-finals
In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Region play each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Region play each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.


 * +West Region


 * +East Region

Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners play each other, with the order of legs (first leg hosted by team from the West Region, second leg hosted by team from the East Region) reversed from the previous season's final.