2020 AFC Champions League final explained

2020 AFC Champions League Final
Event:2020 AFC Champions League
Team1:Persepolis
Team1score:1
Team2:Ulsan Hyundai
Team2score:2
Stadium:Al Janoub Stadium
City:Al Wakrah
Man Of The Match1a:Sin Jin-ho (Ulsan Hyundai)[1]
Referee:Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)[2]
Attendance:8,517
Weather:Mostly cloudy
24 °C (75 °F)
Previous:2019
Next:2021

The 2020 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2020 AFC Champions League, the 39th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the AFC Champions League title.

The final was contested as a single match between Persepolis from Iran and Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea. Under the original format and schedule, the final would have been contested in two-legged home-and-away format, with the first leg played on 22 November and the second leg on 28 November 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was suspended between March and September 2020, and upon its resumption, all matches were relocated to centralised venues in Qatar, and the final was played at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah on 19 December 2020.[3]

Ulsan Hyundai won their second AFC Champions League title. As Asian champions, they qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

Teams

In the following table, the finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, and since 2003 in the AFC Champions League era.

TeamRegionPrevious finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
PersepolisWest Region (Zone: CAFA)1 (2018)
Ulsan HyundaiEast Region (Zone: EAFF)1 (2012)

Venue

On 16 October 2020, the AFC announced that the final would be played in Doha, Qatar.[3] This was the first Asian club competition final held at Al Janoub Stadium.

On 18 December 2020, the AFC announced that they had agreed with the Qatar Football Association to allow a limited number of fans to attend the match, which was the first match since restart of the tournament to have spectators.[4]

Road to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away; *: played in Qatar after restart).

PersepolisRound Ulsan Hyundai
OpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult
Al-Duhail0–2 (A)Matchday 1 FC Tokyo1–1 (H)
Sharjah2–2 (A)Matchday 2 Shanghai Shenhua3–1 (*)
Al-Taawoun1–0 (*)Matchday 3 Perth Glory2–1 (*)
Al-Taawoun1–0 (*)Matchday 4 Perth Glory2–0 (*)
Al-Duhail0–1 (*)Matchday 5 FC Tokyo2–1 (*)
Sharjah4–0 (*)Matchday 6 Shanghai Shenhua4–1 (*)
Group C winnersFinal standingsGroup F winners
OpponentResultKnockout stageOpponentResult
Al-Sadd1–0 (*)Round of 16 Melbourne Victory3–0 (*)
Pakhtakor2–0 (*)Quarter-finals Beijing FC2–0 (*)
Al-Nassr1–1 (*)Semi-finals Vissel Kobe2–1 (*)

Format

The final was played as a single match. If tied after regulation time, extra time and, if necessary, a penalty shoot-out would have been used to decide the winning team.[5]

Match

width=25!width=25
GK 81 Hamed Lak
RB 17
CB 6 Hossein Kanaanizadegan
CB 4 Jalal Hosseini (c)
LB 77 Saeid Aghaei
CM 66 Milad Sarlak
CM 8 Ahmad Nourollahi
RW 88 Siamak Nemati
AM 5 Bashar Resan
LW 2
CF 16 Mehdi Abdi
Substitutes:
GK 34 Amir Mohammad Yousefi
GK 44 Božidar Radošević
DF 15 Mohammad Ansari
DF 38 Ehsan Hosseini
MF 11 Kamal Kamyabinia
MF 23
MF 26 Saeid Hosseinpour
FW 25 Aria Barzegar
FW 36
Manager:
Yahya Golmohammadi
width=25!width=25
GK 1 Jo Su-huk
RB 23 Kim Tae-hwan
CB 44 Kim Kee-hee
CB 4
LB 6
DM 16 Won Du-jae
RM 72
CM 10 Yoon Bit-garam
CM 8 Sin Jin-ho (c)
LM 7
CF 9
Substitutes:
GK 25 Seo Ju-hwan
DF 2 Jeong Dong-ho
DF 15
DF 66
DF 77
MF 22 Koh Myong-jin
MF 17 Kim Sung-joon
MF 98 Lee Sang-heon
FW 11
FW 19
Manager:
Kim Do-hoon
Man of the Match:


Assistant referees


Ramzan Al-Naemi (Qatar)
Saud Al-Maqaleh (Qatar)
Fourth official


Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)
Fifth official


Mohd Yusri Muhamad (Malaysia)
Video assistant referee


Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)
Assistant video assistant referees


Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)
Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia)

Match rules
  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra time if tied.
  • Penalty shoot-out if still tied after extra time.
  • Ten named substitutes, of which up to five may be used, with a sixth allowed in extra time.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Persepolis FC v Ulsan Hyundai FC . the-afc.com . . 19 December 2020 . 19 December 2020 . dmy-all .
  2. Web site: Qatar's Al-Jassim to officiate AFC Champions League Final. Asian Football Confederation. 17 December 2020.
  3. Web site: AFC Champions League Final to be played in Doha, Qatar. Asian Football Confederation. the-afc.com. 16 October 2020.
  4. Web site: AFC Champions League Final to mark the long-awaited return of fans. Asian Football Confederation. 18 December 2020.
  5. Web site: 2020 AFC Champions League Competition Regulations. Asian Football Confederation. PDF.