2017 AFC Champions League group stage explained

The 2017 AFC Champions League group stage was played from 20 February to 10 May 2017.^[1] A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout stage of the 2017 AFC Champions League.^[2]

Draw

The seeding of each team in the draw was determined by their association and their qualifying position within their association. The mechanism of the draw was as follows:

• For the West Region, a draw was held for the three associations with three direct entrants (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iran) to determine the seeds 1 placed in order for Groups A, B and C. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC.
• For the East Region, a draw was held for the two associations with three direct entrants (South Korea, Japan) to determine the seeds 1 placed in order for Groups E and F. The remaining teams were then allocated to the groups according to the rules set by AFC.

The following 32 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 24 direct entrants and the eight winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity were not known at the time of the draw.

width=90	Region	Groups	width=180	Seed 1	width=210	Seed 2	width=210	Seed 3	width=220	Seed 4
West Region	A–D	Al-Ahli	Al-Jazira	Al-Ain
		Al-Ahli	Al-Hilal	Al-Taawoun
		Esteghlal Khuzestan	Zob Ahan	Persepolis
		Al-Rayyan	Lokomotiv Tashkent	Lekhwiya
East Region	E–H	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeju United
		Kashima Antlers	Urawa Red Diamonds	Kawasaki Frontale
		Guangzhou Evergrande	Jiangsu Suning
		Adelaide United	Muangthong United	Western Sydney Wanderers	Eastern

Format

Tiebreakers

Schedule

The schedule of each matchday was as follows.^[1] Matches in the West Region were played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the East Region were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Matchday	Dates	Matches
Matchday 1	20–22 February 2017	Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 2	27 February – 1 March 2017	Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 3	13–15 March 2017	Team 4 vs. Team 2, Team 1 vs. Team 3
Matchday 4	10–12 April 2017	Team 2 vs. Team 4, Team 3 vs. Team 1
Matchday 5	24–26 April 2017	Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 6	8–10 May 2017	Team 1 vs. Team 2, Team 3 vs. Team 4

Groups

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Group E

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Group F

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Group G

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Group H

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External links

• , the-AFC.com
• AFC Champions League 2017, stats.the-AFC.com

Notes and References

1. Web site: AFC Calendar of Competitions 2017. AFC. PDF.
2. Web site: 2017 AFC Champions League Competition Regulations. AFC. PDF. 13 December 2016. 15 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171215105445/http://res.cloudinary.com/deltatreafcprod/image/upload/znrpncewimpwaahnds4r.pdf. dead.