Sepahan Iran will clash with Kawasaki Frontale

AFC - AFC Champions League defending champions Jeonbuk Motors of Korea Republic were drawn to play Japanese champions Urawa Reds in a mouthwatering home-and-away quarterfinal encounter here today at AFC House.

Urawa booked their berth in the last eight by virtue of a hardfought draw on the last day of group qualifiers against Sydney FC of Australia while Jeonbuk got a bye into the knockout stage.

In other pairings, the second Korean side to reach the knockout stage, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, will take on last year’s runners-up and surprise package Al Karama of Syria in the second quarterfinal.

Sepahan of Iran will clash with Kawasaki Frontale, the first Japanese side to reach the knockout stage of this competition ever, in the first quarterfinal, while it will be an all-West quarterfinal 3 encounter between Al Wahda of the UAE and Saudi giants Al Hilal.

Jeonbuk Motors, who are currently struggling in midtable in the K-League, became the first team from East Asia to win the coveted title last year after defeating Al Karama 3-2 on aggregate in the two-legged final.

Al Karama, who won the Syrian League title for the second year in a row recently, qualified for the elimination phase of the ACL this time round only on the final match day after defeating Neftchi. The others who left it late were Sepahan, Urawa and current K-League first stage leaders Seongnam.

The two-legged quarterfinals take place on September 19 and September 26. The semifinals will be played over two legs on October 3 and October 24.

If Seongnam put the brakes on Al Karama’s streak of continental success then they could meet either Urawa or Jeonbuk in the first semifinal.

The second semifinal will pit the victors of the Sepahan-Kawasaki game against either Al Wahda or Al Hilal.

The final will be played on November 7 and November 14.


QUARTERFINAL MATCH-UPS

QF 1 –Sepahan (Iran) X Kawasaki (Japan)

QF 2 - Seongmam (Korea Rep) x Al Karama (Syria)

QF 3 – Al Wahda (UAE) x Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

QF 4 – Urawa Reds (Japan) x Jeobuk Motors (Korea Republic)

SF 1 – QF 2 x QF 4

SF 2 – QF 1 x QF 3