2015 AFC Champions League final

2015 AFC Champions League Final

Event	2015 AFC Champions League
Al-Ahli Guangzhou Evergrande 0 1
on aggregate
First leg
Al-Ahli Guangzhou Evergrande 0 0
Date	7 November 2015
Venue	Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai
AFC Man of the Match	Zheng Zhi (Guangzhou Evergrande)[1]
Referee	Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)
Attendance	9,480
Weather	Clear and warm 25 °C (77 °F) 62% humidity[1]
Second leg
Guangzhou Evergrande Al-Ahli 1 0
Date	21 November 2015
Venue	Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou
AFC Man of the Match	Elkeson (Guangzhou Evergrande)[2]
Referee	Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
Attendance	42,499
Weather	Hot 27 °C (81 °F) 88% humidity[2]
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The 2015 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2015 AFC Champions League, the 34th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title.

The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Emiratis team Al-Ahli and Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande. The first leg hosted by Al-Ahli at Al-Rashid Stadium in Dubai on 7 November 2015, while the second leg hosted by Guangzhou Evergrande at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou on 21 November 2015. Having previously won the tournament in 2013 Guangzhou Evergrande has making its second final appearance in three years.

Guangzhou Evergrande won the final 1–0 on aggregate and as Asian champions earned the right to represent the AFC at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, entering at the quarterfinal stage.

Team	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al-Ahli	None
Guangzhou Evergrande	2013

The 2015 AFC Champions League Final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format, held at the home of both finalists. It was the third consecutive year that the AFC adopted such an arrangement.

Al-Ahli's home venue, Al-Rashid Stadium, is a 9,415 seated stadium located in the city of Dubai.

Two previous final has been held in United Arab Emirates. The first one was in the first leg of the 2002–03 final, Al Ain defeated BEC Tero Sasana F.C. 2–0 in Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium in the city of Al Ain, and they eventually claimed the title 2–1 on aggregate. The second one was 10 years ago, in the first leg of the 2005 final, Al Ain was defeated by Saudis' team, Al-Ittihad, and they eventually lost the title 3–5 on aggregate.

Guangzhou Evergrande's home venue, Tianhe Stadium, is a 58,500 seated stadium located in the city of Guangzhou.

In the history of the competition, two finals have been held in China and this final will be the third, and the second that Guangzhou hosted. The first final hosted by a Chinese city in 1989–90, which was won by Chinese side Liaoning FC 3–2 against Nissan Yokohama in the city of Shenyang. The next final, the 2013 and second leg of the 2013, was hosted in Guangzhou. The 2013 final was won by Guangzhou Evergrande on the away goals rule with 3–3 on aggregate.

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Al-Ahli				Round	Guangzhou Evergrande
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Al-Ahli	3–3 (H)			Matchday 1	FC Seoul	1–0 (H)
Tractor Sazi	0–1 (A)			Matchday 2	Western Sydney Wanderers	3–2 (A)
FC Nasaf	0–0 (H)			Matchday 3	Kashima Antlers	4–3 (H)
FC Nasaf	1–0 (A)			Matchday 4	Kashima Antlers	1–2 (A)
Al-Ahli	1–2 (A)			Matchday 5	FC Seoul	0–0 (A)
Tractor Sazi	3–2 (H)			Matchday 6	Western Sydney Wanderers	0–2 (H)
Group D runners-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Al-Ahli 6 12 2 Al-Ahli 6 8 3 Nasaf Qarshi 6 8 4 Tractor Sazi 6 4 Source: AFC				Final standings	Group H winner Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Guangzhou Evergrande 6 10 2 FC Seoul 6 9 3 Western Sydney Wanderers 6 8 4 Kashima Antlers 6 6 Source: AFC
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout stage	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Ain	3–3 (a)	0–0 (H)	3–3 (A)	Round of 16	Seongnam FC	3–2	1–2 (A)	2–0 (H)
Naft Tehran	3–1	1–0 (A)	2–1 (H)	Quarter-finals	Kashiwa Reysol	4–2	3–1 (A)	1–1 (H)
Al-Hilal	4–3	1–1 (A)	3–2 (H)	Semi-finals	Gamba Osaka	2–1	2–1 (H)	0–0 (A)

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs decided by draw. 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.^[3]

7 November 2015

19:45 UTC+4

Al-Ahli	0–0	Guangzhou Evergrande
	Report

Al-Rashid Stadium, Dubai

Attendance: 9,480

Referee: Kim Jong-hyeok (South Korea)

Al-Ahli

Guangzhou Evergrande

GK 12 Ahmed Mahmoud RB 26 Abdulaziz Haikel  84' CB 2 Salmeen Khamis CB 21 Kwon Kyung-won  90+3' LB 62 Abdelaziz Sanqour  72' RM 8 Everton Ribeiro  90' CM 88 Majed Hassan LM 4 Habib Fardan RF 11 Ahmed Khalil (c)  88' CF 9 Lima LF 7 Ismail Al Hammadi Substitutes: GK 55 Majed Naser DF 5 Walid Abbas  72' DF 80 Humaid Abdulla  88' DF 77 Yousef Al Sayed MF 6 Hassan Abdurahman MF 71 Nawaf Mubarak FW 14 Oussama Assaidi  90' Manager: Cosmin Olăroiu

GK 19 Zeng Cheng RB 5 Zhang Linpeng CB 3 Mei Fang  80' CB 6 Feng Xiaoting LB 35 Li Xuepeng  70' CM 8 Paulinho CM 10 Zheng Zhi (c) RW 16 Huang Bowen AM 11 Ricardo Goulart  59' LW 27 Zheng Long  46' CF 9 Elkeson  36' Substitutes: GK 22 Li Shuai DF 17 Liu Jian MF 2 Liao Lisheng MF 12 Wang Shangyuan MF 20 Yu Hanchao  59' MF 25 Zou Zheng  70' DF 28 Kim Young-gwon FW 29 Gao Lin  46' Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari

21 November 2015

20:00 UTC+8

Guangzhou Evergrande	1–0	Al-Ahli
Elkeson 54'	Report

Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou

Attendance: 42,499

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Guangzhou Evergrande

Al-Ahli

GK 19 Zeng Cheng  38' RB 5 Zhang Linpeng CB 6 Feng Xiaoting CB 28 Kim Young-gwon LB 25 Zou Zheng  72' DM 10 Zheng Zhi (c) DM 8 Paulinho AM 11 Ricardo Goulart  90+1' RW 16 Huang Bowen  76' LW 27 Zheng Long  87' CF 9 Elkeson Substitutes: GK 22 Li Shuai  38' DF 3 Mei Fang DF 33 Rong Hao DF 35 Li Xuepeng MF 17 Liu Jian  87' MF 20 Yu Hanchao FW 29 Gao Lin  90+1' Manager: Luiz Felipe Scolari

GK 12 Ahmed Mahmoud RB 62 Abdelaziz Sanqour CB 2 Salmeen Khamis  67' CB 21 Kwon Kyung-won LB 5 Walid Abbas RM 8 Everton Ribeiro CM 88 Majed Hassan  11'  90+3' LM 4 Habib Fardan  65' RF 9 Lima CF 11 Ahmed Khalil (c)  63' LF 7 Ismail Al Hammadi Substitutes: GK 55 Majed Naser DF 57 Mohamed Sebil  90+3' DF 80 Humaid Abbas  65' MF 6 Hassan Abdurahman MF 70 Waleed Hussain MF 71 Nawaf Mubarak FW 14 Oussama Assaidi  63' Manager: Cosmin Olăroiu

• AFC Champions League, the-AFC.com