The Elit Asian Champions League Round of 16, held in a home-and-away format, has come to an end.
According to the results of the group stage matches, 16 teams from the West and East regions advanced to the next stage. After the Round of 16 matches, 8 clubs bid farewell to the tournament.
In the West, "Al Wasl" (UAE), "Istiqlol" (Iran), "Al Rayyan" (Qatar), and "Pakhtakor" (Uzbekistan) ended their participation at this stage, while in the East, "Shanghai Port" (China), "Shanghai Shenhua" (China), "Johor Darul Ta'zim" (Malaysia), and "Vissel Kobe" (Japan) concluded their tournament in the quarter-finals.
From now on, 8 strong teams remain from both regions, and according to the tournament regulations, all matches from the quarter-finals onwards will be held in Saudi Arabia. The centralized matches will take place in two stadiums in Jeddah - "King Abdullah" (capacity 63,000) and "Prince Abdullah Al Faisal" (capacity 27,000).
The next format of the Elit Asian Champions League will look as follows. After the draw ceremony on March 14, teams will be divided into four pairs in a West-East format. That is, while in previous years the East and West only faced each other in the final, now starting from the quarter-finals, the East's opponent will be from the West, and the West's opponent will be from the East.
The quarter-final matches will be held on April 25-26, while the semi-final matches are scheduled for April 29-30. The decisive final match of the tournament will take place on May 4 at the magnificent "King Abdullah" stadium. The final will consist of a single match. Additionally, there will be no match for third place.
Clubs participating in the decisive stage:
"Al Ahli" (Saudi Arabia)
"Al Hilal" (Saudi Arabia)
"Al Nassr" (Saudi Arabia)
"Al Sadd" (Qatar)
"Buriram United" (Thailand)
"Yokohama Marinos" (Japan)
"Kawasaki Frontale" (Japan)
"Gwangju FK" (South Korea)
Who do you think will win the championship?
Source: championat.asia
