Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Two continental titles in three years sees recently-crowned AFC Club Team of the Year Guangzhou Evergrande sit at the top of the second edition of the AFC Club Rankings, a recently-introduced initiative giving followers of the Asian game a systematic and transparent way of seeing who are the continent’s top performing sides.
Based on the results of teams participating in the last four years of the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup - with the overall club performances of their respective Member Associations during the same period also factored in - 2015 ACL champions Guangzhou Evergrande top the standings with an impressive haul of 129.359 points.
Click here for an explanation of the ranking points system
The Chinese giants, who also won Asia’s premier club competition in 2013 before the then defending champions bowed out in the quarter-finals to eventual 2014 ACL winners Western Sydney Wanderers, were fourth in the inaugural AFC Club Ranking list published in December 2014, which was headed by Saudi Arabian powerhouse Al Hilal.
Al Hilal, semi-finalists in this year’s ACL having finished runners-up in 2014, are second in the latest AFC Club Ranking with 116 points, an improvement on their inaugural total of 106 while their Saudi league rivals Al Ahli - ACL finalists in 2012 before reaching the quarter-final and round of 16 in 2013 and 2015 respectively, sit third with 91 points.
Meanwhile, Johor Darul Ta’zim appear in the AFC Club Ranking for the first time with their historic AFC Cup 2015 triumph giving them their first ranking points, which allied to their MA club points sees the Malaysian side debut on the continental club list at 68th.