2018 AFC Champions League knockout stage

The 2018 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 7 May to 10 November 2018.^[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2018 AFC Champions League.^[2]

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.

Region	Group	Winners	Runners-up
West Region	A	Al-Ahli	Al-Jazira
	B	Al-Duhail	Zob Ahan
	C	Persepolis	Al-Sadd
	D	Esteghlal	Al-Ain
East Region	E	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Tianjin Quanjian
	F	Shanghai SIPG	Ulsan Hyundai
	G	Guangzhou Evergrande	Buriram United
	H	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).^[2]

Schedule

The schedule of each round 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.

Round	First leg	Second leg
Round of 16	7–9 May 2018	14–16 May 2018
Quarter-finals	27–29 August 2018	17–19 September 2018
Semi-finals	2–3 October 2018	23–24 October 2018
Final	3 November 2018	10 November 2018

Bracket

The bracket of the knockout stage was determined as follows:

Round	Matchups
Round 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 F
Quarter-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 QF4
Semi-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 QF4
Final	(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.^[3][4][5]

	Round of 16						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Kashima Antlers	3	1	4
	Shanghai SIPG	1	2	3
							Kashima Antlers	2	3	5
							Tianjin Quanjian	0	0	0
	Tianjin Quanjian (a)	0	2	2
	Guangzhou Evergrande	0	2	2
													Kashima Antlers	3	3	6
	East Region
													Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2	3	5
	Buriram United	3	0	3
	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2	2	4
							Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0	3	3 (2)
							Suwon Samsung Bluewings (p)	3	0	3 (4)
	Ulsan Hyundai	1	0	1
	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0	3	3
																			Kashima Antlers	2	0	2
																			Persepolis	0	0	0
	Zob Ahan	1	1	2
	Esteghlal	0	3	3
							Esteghlal	1	2	3
							Al-Sadd	3	2	5
	Al-Sadd	2	2	4
	Al-Ahli	1	2	3
													Al-Sadd	0	1	1
	West Region
													Persepolis	1	1	2
	Al-Ain	2	1	3
	Al-Duhail	4	4	8
							Al-Duhail	1	1	2
							Persepolis	0	3	3
	Al-Jazira	3	1	4
	Persepolis (a)	2	2	4

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.

West Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Jazira	4–4 (a)	Persepolis	3–2	1–2
Al-Sadd	4–3	Al-Ahli	2–1	2–2
Zob Ahan	2–3	Esteghlal	1–0	1–3
Al-Ain	3–8	Al-Duhail	2–4	1–4

East Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Tianjin Quanjian	2–2 (a)	Guangzhou Evergrande	0–0	2–2
Buriram United	3–4	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3–2	0–2
Ulsan Hyundai	1–3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–0	0–3
Kashima Antlers	4–3	Shanghai SIPG	3–1	1–2

West Region

7 May 2018 (2018-05-07)

19:30 UTC+4

Al-Jazira	3–2	Persepolis
Mabkhout 52' Romarinho 77' Al-Hammadi 90+6'	Live Report Stats Report	Alipour 42' Mensha 84' (pen.)

Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Attendance: 5,821

Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

14 May 2018 (2018-05-14)

19:30 UTC+4:30

Persepolis	2–1	Al-Jazira
Nourollahi 63' Hosseini 89'	Live Report Stats Report	Romarinho 70'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 80,000

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

4–4 on aggregate. Persepolis won on away goals.

---

7 May 2018 (2018-05-07)

19:15 UTC+3

Al-Sadd	2–1	Al-Ahli
Khoukhi 3', 28'	Live Report Stats Report	Assiri 47'

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 3,613

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

14 May 2018 (2018-05-14)

20:40 UTC+3

Al-Ahli	2–2	Al-Sadd
Claudemir 9' Assiri 39'	Live Report Stats Report	Bounedjah 2', 70'

King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah

Attendance: 24,150

Referee: Fu Ming (China)

Al-Sadd won 4–3 on aggregate.

---

8 May 2018 (2018-05-08)

19:15 UTC+4:30

Zob Ahan	1–0	Esteghlal
Gvelesiani 90+3' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report

Foolad Shahr Stadium, Isfahan

Attendance: 10,160

Referee: Jumpei Iida (Japan)

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15)

20:45 UTC+4:30

Esteghlal	3–1	Zob Ahan
Thiam 11' (pen.), 41', 64'	Live Report Stats Report	Haddadifar 65'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 75,680

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Esteghlal won 3–2 on aggregate.

---

8 May 2018 (2018-05-08)

20:10 UTC+4

Al-Ain	2–4	Al-Duhail
Khalil 68' Diaky 86'	Live Report Stats Report	El-Arabi 16' Nam Tae-hee 39' Mohammad 48' Ali 55'

Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain

Attendance: 7,124

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15)

18:30 UTC+3

Al-Duhail	4–1	Al-Ain
M. Ahmed 12' (o.g.) El-Arabi 30', 86' (pen.) Mohammad 54'	Live Report Stats Report	O. Abdulrahman 90+4' (pen.)

Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

Attendance: 6,853

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Al-Duhail won 8–3 on aggregate.

East Region

8 May 2018 (2018-05-08)

19:30 UTC+8

Tianjin Quanjian	0–0	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Live Report Stats Report

Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin

Attendance: 23,508

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15)

20:00 UTC+8

Guangzhou Evergrande	2–2	Tianjin Quanjian
Goulart 17', 48'	Live Report Stats Report	Pato 19' Wang Jie 52'

Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou

Attendance: 48,632

Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

2–2 on aggregate. Tianjin Quanjian won on away goals.

---

8 May 2018 (2018-05-08)

18:00 UTC+7

Buriram United	3–2	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Edgar 6', 69' Diogo 60'	Live Report Stats Report	Lopes 50' Son Jun-ho 90+1'

Chang Arena, Buriram

Attendance: 10,382

Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (Qatar)

15 May 2018 (2018-05-15)

19:00 UTC+9

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–0	Buriram United
Lopes 18' Lee Jae-sung 84'	Live Report Stats Report

Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Attendance: 11,218

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 4–3 on aggregate.

---

9 May 2018 (2018-05-09)

20:00 UTC+9

Ulsan Hyundai	1–0	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Kim In-sung 67'	Live Report Stats Report

Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium, Ulsan

Attendance: 1,648

Referee: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq)

16 May 2018 (2018-05-16)

20:00 UTC+9

Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3–0	Ulsan Hyundai
Kim Gun-hee 26', 31' Waguininho 90+1'	Live Report Stats Report

Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon

Attendance: 3,176

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 3–1 on aggregate.

---

9 May 2018 (2018-05-09)

19:00 UTC+9

Kashima Antlers	3–1	Shanghai SIPG
Suzuki 43' Nishi 49' Yu Hai 75' (o.g.)	Live Report Stats Report	Elkeson 77'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 8,860

Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (Uzbekistan)

16 May 2018 (2018-05-16)

20:00 UTC+8

Shanghai SIPG	2–1	Kashima Antlers
Hulk 7', 81' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Doi 42'

Shanghai Stadium, Shanghai

Attendance: 19,697

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla (United Arab Emirates)

Kashima Antlers won 4–3 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

Summary

The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 23 May 2018.^[5] 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.

West Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Esteghlal	3–5	Al-Sadd	1–3	2–2
Al-Duhail	2–3	Persepolis	1–0	1–3

East Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Kashima Antlers	5–0	Tianjin Quanjian	2–0	3–0
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3–3 (2–4 p)	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–3	3–0 (a.e.t.)

West Region

27 August 2018 (2018-08-27)

20:30 UTC+4:30

Esteghlal	1–3	Al-Sadd
Khoukhi 12' (o.g.)	Live Report Stats Report	Afif 60' Bounedjah 65', 74' (pen.)

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 78,116

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

17 September 2018 (2018-09-17)

19:00 UTC+3

Al-Sadd	2–2	Esteghlal
Afif 27' Bounedjah 90+2' (pen.)	Live Report Stats Report	Bagheri 32' Tabrizi 49'

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 6,462

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

Al-Sadd won 5–3 on aggregate.

---

28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)

18:30 UTC+3

Al-Duhail	1–0	Persepolis
Ali 15'	Live Report Stats Report

Khalifa International Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 6,650

Referee: Mohanad Qassim (Iraq)

17 September 2018 (2018-09-17)

18:30 UTC+4:30

Persepolis	3–1	Al-Duhail
Hosseini 57' Al-Brake 76' (o.g.) Mensha 78'	Live Report Stats Report	Boudiaf 33'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 71,312

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Persepolis won 3–2 on aggregate.

East Region

28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)

19:00 UTC+9

Kashima Antlers	2–0	Tianjin Quanjian
Léo Silva 60' Serginho 72'	Live Report Stats Report

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 13,634

Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

18 September 2018 (2018-09-18)

19:30 UTC+8

Tianjin Quanjian	0–3	Kashima Antlers
	Live Report Stats Report	Serginho 13' Abe 27' Doi 66'

Estádio Campo Desportivo, Macau^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 8,718

Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Kashima Antlers won 5–0 on aggregate.

---

29 August 2018 (2018-08-29)

19:00 UTC+9

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0–3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Live Report Stats Report	Damjanović 75', 82' Han Eui-kwon 85'

Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonju

Attendance: 9,385

Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

19 September 2018 (2018-09-19)

19:00 UTC+9

Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0–3 (a.e.t.)	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Live Report Stats Report	Adriano 11' Choi Bo-kyung 51' Kim Shin-wook 71'
Penalties
Damjanović Lee Ki-je Jo Sung-jin Sarić	4–2	Kim Shin-wook Adriano Lee Dong-gook Kim Min-jae

Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon

Attendance: 8,028

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

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.

West Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Sadd	1–2	Persepolis	0–1	1–1

East Region

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Kashima Antlers	6–5	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3–2	3–3

West Region

2 October 2018 (2018-10-02)

18:15 UTC+3

Al-Sadd	0–1	Persepolis
	Live Report Stats Report	Alipour 86' (pen.)

Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan

Attendance: 9,087

Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (Sri Lanka)

23 October 2018 (2018-10-23)

18:30 UTC+3:30

Persepolis	1–1	Al-Sadd
Nemati 49'	Live Report Stats Report	Bounedjah 17'

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 81,350

Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

Persepolis won 2–1 on aggregate.

East Region

3 October 2018 (2018-10-03)

19:00 UTC+9

Kashima Antlers	3–2	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Jang Ho-ik 21' (o.g.) Serginho 84' Uchida 90+3'	Live Report Stats Report	Uchida 2' (o.g.) Damjanović 6'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 13,044

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

24 October 2018 (2018-10-24)

19:00 UTC+9

Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3–3	Kashima Antlers
Lim Sang-hyub 52' Jo Sung-jin 53' Damjanović 60'	Live Report Stats Report	Yamamoto 25' Nishi 64' Serginho 82'

Suwon World Cup Stadium, Suwon

Attendance: 10,296

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)^[7]

Kashima Antlers won 6–5 on aggregate.

Final

Main article: 2018 AFC Champions League 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.

3 November 2018 (2018-11-03)

15:00 UTC+9

Kashima Antlers	2–0	Persepolis
Léo Silva 58' Serginho 70'	Live Report Stats Report

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 35,022

Referee: Ma Ning (China)

10 November 2018 (2018-11-10)

18:30 UTC+3:30

Persepolis	0–0	Kashima Antlers
	Live Report Stats Report

Azadi Stadium, Tehran

Attendance: 100,000

Referee: Ahmed Al-Kaf (Oman)

Kashima Antlers won 2–0 on aggregate.

Notes

1. The Tianjin Quanjian v Kashima Antlers match was played in Estádio Campo Desportivo, Macau instead of Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Tianjin.^[6]