The 2018 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 7 May to 10 November 2018. A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2018 AFC Champions League.
Qualified teams The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage advanced to the round of 16, with both West Region (Groups A–D) and East Region (Groups E–H) having eight qualified teams.
RegionGroupWinnersRunners-upWest RegionA Al-Ahli Al-JaziraB Al-Duhail Zob AhanC Persepolis Al-SaddD Esteghlal Al-AinEast RegionE Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Tianjin QuanjianF Shanghai SIPG Ulsan HyundaiG Guangzhou Evergrande Buriram UnitedH Suwon Samsung Bluewings Kashima Antlers
Format
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split into the two regions until the final. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. The away goals rule, extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winner if necessary (Regulations Article 11.3).
Schedule The schedule of each round was as follows. Matches in the West Region were played on Mondays and Tuesdays, while matches in the East Region were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
RoundFirst legSecond legRound of 167–9 May 201814–16 May 2018Quarter-finals27–29 August 201817–19 September 2018Semi-finals2–3 October 201823–24 October 2018Final3 November 201810 November 2018
Bracket The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:
RoundMatchupsRound of 16(Group winners host second leg)
West Region Runner-up Group A vs. Winner Group C Runner-up Group C vs. Winner Group A Runner-up Group B vs. Winner Group D Runner-up Group D vs. Winner Group B
East Region Runner-up Group E vs. Winner Group G Runner-up Group G vs. Winner Group E Runner-up Group F vs. Winner Group H Runner-up Group H vs. Winner Group FQuarter-finals(Matchups and order of legs decided by draw, involving four round of 16 winners each in West Region and East Region)
West Region QF1 QF2
East Region QF3 QF4Semi-finals(Winners QF1 and QF3 host first leg, Winners QF2 and QF4 host second leg)
West Region SF1: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2
East Region SF2: Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4Final(Winner SF2 host first leg, Winner SF1 host second leg, as reversed from previous season's final) Winner SF1 vs. Winner SF2
The bracket was decided after the draw for the quarter-finals, which was held on 23 May 2018, 16:00 MYT (UTC+8), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Round of 16 Summary
In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group from the same region, with the group winners hosting the second leg, and the matchups determined by the group stage draw.
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|+East Region
West Region
4–4 on aggregate. Persepolis won on away goals.
Al-Sadd won 4–3 on aggregate.
Esteghlal won 3–2 on aggregate.
Al-Duhail won 8–3 on aggregate.
East Region
2–2 on aggregate. Tianjin Quanjian won on away goals.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 4–3 on aggregate.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 3–1 on aggregate.
Kashima Antlers won 4–3 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals Summary
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 23 May 2018. In the quarter-finals, the four teams from the West Region played in two ties, and the four teams from the East Region played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw, without any seeding or country protection.
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|+East Region
West Region
Al-Sadd won 5–3 on aggregate.
Persepolis won 3–2 on aggregate.
East Region
Kashima Antlers won 5–0 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 4–2 on penalties.
Semi-finals Summary
In the semi-finals, the two quarter-final winners from the West Region played each other, and the two quarter-final winners from the East Region played each other, with the order of legs determined by the quarter-final draw.
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|+East Region
West Region
Persepolis won 2–1 on aggregate.
East Region
Kashima Antlers won 6–5 on aggregate.
Final
In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs (first leg hosted by team from the East Region, second leg hosted by team from the West Region) reversed from the previous season's final.
Kashima Antlers won 2–0 on aggregate.
Notes
References
External links , the-AFC.com AFC Champions League 2018, stats.the-AFC.com