2015 AFC Champions League knockout stage
Football tournament knockout stage
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The 2015 AFC Champions League knockout stage was played from 19 May to 21 November 2015. A total of 16 teams competed in the knockout stage to decide the champions of the 2015 AFC Champions League.[1]
Qualified teams
The winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage qualified for the knockout stage. Both West Zone and East Zone had eight teams qualified.
| Zone | Group | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Zone (Groups A–D) |
A |  Lekhwiya |
 Persepolis |
| B |  Al-Ain |
Naft Tehran | |
| C |  Al-Hilal |
Al-Sadd | |
| D | Al-Ahli |
Al-Ahli | |
| East Zone (Groups E–H) |
E |  Kashiwa Reysol |
 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| F | Gamba Osaka |
Seongnam FC | |
| G |  Beijing Guoan |
Suwon Samsung Bluewings | |
| H | Guangzhou Evergrande |
FC Seoul |
Format
In the knockout stage, the 16 teams played a single-elimination tournament, with the teams split between the two zones 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.[1]
Schedule
The schedule of each round was as follows.[2]
| Round | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | 19–20 May 2015 | 26–27 May 2015 |
| Quarter-finals | 25–26 August 2015 | 15–16 September 2015 |
| Semi-finals | 29–30 September 2015 | 20–21 October 2015 |
| Final | 7 November 2015 | 21 November 2015 |
Bracket
In the round of 16, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group in the same zone, with the group winners hosting the second leg.[1] The matchups are determined as follows:
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|
The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 18 June 2015, 16:00 UTC+8, at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.[3] Teams from different zones could not be drawn into the same tie, and there was no seeding or country protection, so teams from the same association could be drawn into the same tie.[4]
In the semi-finals, the matchups were determined by the quarter-final draw: Winner QF1 vs. Winner QF2 (West Zone) and Winner QF3 vs. Winner QF4 (East Zone), with winners QF2 and QF4 hosting the second leg.[4]
In the final, the finalist from the West Zone hosted the first leg, while the finalist from the East Zone hosted the second leg (no draw was held to determine the order of legs, as it was reversed from the previous season's final).[4]
| Round of 16 | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Persepolis
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Hilal
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Hilal
| 4 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lekhwiya
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Sadd
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lekhwiya
| 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Hilal
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ahli
| 1 | 3 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Naft Tehran (a)
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ahli
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Naft Tehran
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ahli
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ahli (a)
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ain
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Al-Ahli
| 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Suwon Bluewings
| 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol (a)
| 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kashiwa Reysol
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande
| 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Seongnam FC
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Guangzhou Evergrande
| 2 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeonbuk Motors
| 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Beijing Guoan
| 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jeonbuk Motors
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka
| 0 | 3 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| FC Seoul
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Gamba Osaka
| 3 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Round of 16
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
4–4 (a) | Kashiwa Reysol |
2–3 | 2–1 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
2–1 | Beijing Guoan |
1–1 | 1–0 |
| FC Seoul |
3–6 | Gamba Osaka |
1–3 | 2–3 |
| Seongnam FC |
2–3 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
2–1 | 0–2 |
First leg
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 1–1 | Beijing Guoan |
|---|---|---|
Kim Kee-hee  13' |
Report | Batalla 85' (pen.) |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 2–3 | Kashiwa Reysol |
|---|---|---|
| Yeom Ki-hun 1' Jong Tae-se 59' |
Report | Barada 12' Leandro 29' (pen.), 56' |
| Persepolis | 1–0 | Al-Hilal |
|---|---|---|
Digão  90+2' (o.g.) |
Report |
| Seongnam FC | 2–1 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
|---|---|---|
| Jorginho 23' Kim Do-heon 90+5' (pen.) |
Report | Huang Bowen 42' |
| FC Seoul | 1–3 | Gamba Osaka |
|---|---|---|
| Yun Ju-tae 90+2' |
Report | Usami 63', 86' Yonekura 74' |
| Naft Tehran | 1–0 | Al-Ahli |
|---|---|---|
| Rezaei 34' |
Report |
Second leg
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1–2 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
|---|---|---|
| Kobayashi 65' |
Report | Jong Tae-se 26' Koo Ja-ryong 54' |
4–4 on aggregate. Kashiwa Reysol won on away goals.
| Beijing Guoan | 0–1 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Edu 73' |
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won 2–1 on aggregate.
Lekhwiya won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Al-Hilal | 3–0 | Persepolis |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Salem 29' Al-Shalhoub 57' (pen.)A. Al-Dawsari 90+1' |
Report |
Al-Hilal won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Gamba Osaka | 3–2 | FC Seoul |
|---|---|---|
| Patric 16' Kurata 45'Lins 86' |
Report | Yun Ju-tae 58', 90+2' |
Gamba Osaka won 6–3 on aggregate.
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 2–0 | Seongnam FC |
|---|---|---|
| Goulart 27' (pen.), 57' |
Report |
Guangzhou Evergrande won 3–2 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Al-Ahli won on away goals.
| Al-Ahli | 2–1 | Naft Tehran |
|---|---|---|
| Al Soma 36', 42' |
Report | Padovani 31' |
2–2 on aggregate. Naft Tehran won on away goals.
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kashiwa Reysol |
2–4 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
1–3 | 1–1 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
2–3 | Gamba Osaka |
0–0 | 2–3 |
First leg
| Kashiwa Reysol | 1–3 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
|---|---|---|
| Kudo 89' |
Report | Suzuki 5' (o.g.) Paulinho 40'Gao Lin 58' |
| Naft Tehran | 0–1 | Al-Ahli |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Lima 62' |
- Notes
Second leg
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 1–1 | Kashiwa Reysol |
|---|---|---|
| Huang Bowen 30' |
Report | Cristiano 12' |
Guangzhou Evergrande won 4–2 on aggregate.
Al-Hilal won 6–3 on aggregate.
| Gamba Osaka | 3–2 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
|---|---|---|
| Patric 14' Kurata 76'Yonekura 90+3' |
Report | Leonardo 13' (pen.) Vera 88' |
Gamba Osaka won 3–2 on aggregate.
Al-Ahli won 3–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guangzhou Evergrande |
2–1 | Gamba Osaka |
2–1 | 0–0 |
First leg
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 2–1 | Gamba Osaka |
|---|---|---|
| Huang Bowen 36' Zheng Zhi 57' |
Report | Feng Xiaoting 13' (o.g.) |
Second leg
Al-Ahli won 4–3 on aggregate.
Guangzhou Evergrande won 2–1 on aggregate.
Final
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Ahli |
0–1 | Guangzhou Evergrande |
0–0 | 0–1 |
| Guangzhou Evergrande | 1–0 | Al-Ahli |
|---|---|---|
| Elkeson 54' |
Report |
Guangzhou Evergrande won 1–0 on aggregate.