The 2021 AFC Champions League Quarterfinals are now open in Saudi Arabia and South Korea on October 16th and 17th for the West and East Asian regions respectively.
China Super League (soccer league)
The club missed out on the last eight for the first time since 2010, and the AFC Champions League has reached an all-time low in terms of domestic importance. This seems to be somehow related to the fact that the Chinese
national soccer team
The end of the "Golden Years" is somehow inevitably linked to the end of the "Golden Years", and of course the epidemic has a lot to do with it. However, there is a very real problem in
China Super League (soccer league)
Before the teams: what about the next year's AFC Champions League? As the reporter has learned from the AFC about the general arrangement of the next year's AFC Champions League, the situation is simply similar to this year.
Next year's centralized system of consecutive meets
The 2022 AFC Champions League will mark the 20th anniversary of the tournament, and the AFC had hoped to return to full normalization, i.e., to bring the home-and-away system back to the tournament. However, due to the objective impact of the current epidemic, the AFC has to maintain the centralized system of the tournament. It is reported that last month and earlier this month, the AFC competition part of the East Asia Region and West Asia Region has called the relevant member associations to online method of the meeting, the next year's AFC Champions League arrangements to seek advice.
According to the majority of member associations and salon representatives, on the basis of summarizing the successful experience of the two AFC Champions Leagues in 2020 and 2021, the AFC Competition Section, after consulting with the AFC Emergency Committee, and in light of the epidemic throughout Asia, has come up with the opinion that the 2022 AFC Champions League will be the last time that a centralized tournament system will be chosen for group stage matches, and that the AFC Champions League will, until 2023, be fully resume the home-and-away system. At the same time, due to the next year in mid-November will open the
World Cup
tournament, in order to allow the Asian teams to better prepare for the
World Cup
The next year's AFC Champions League will be completed in October, rather than in late November as it was before. And, in order to compress the entire tournament's journey, the knockout stage of the competition all to a single knockout method, rather than home and away system to determine the winner, but also will not be the same as this year, in the quarter-finals as well as semi-finals in the choice of centralized tournament system method.
Based on these broad principles, the AFC Competition Section has also proposed a rough schedule for the competition. For the East Asian Region, the first and second rounds of qualifiers, as well as the third round of play-offs, will be held on March 1, 8, and 15, respectively. Due to
China Super League (soccer league)
The club's next year's AFC Champions League berth is still "3+1", this year
China Super League (soccer league)
The third-place finisher in the league will go straight to the third-round playoffs on March 15, and will still be playing at home. This will also not affect the final two rounds of the 12-team tournament on March 24 and 29 next year. The reason why the AFC arranged the AFC Champions League qualifiers and play-offs in mid- to early March is to avoid a clash with the 12-team tournament. Of course, if a national team chooses to train for a long time, the AFC has no control.
East Asian regional group stage arrangements initially scheduled to open on April 15 or 16, to April 30 or May 1 finish, before and after the time of half a month to complete six rounds of competition. West Asia Region first round of qualifiers arranged on March 15 next year, followed by the 12 strong match to make way for the second round of qualifiers and the third round of additional matches arranged on April 5 and 19 next year; group stage from May 11 or 12 to open, to May 26 or 27 finished.
