Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Al Sadd host Persepolis in the first leg of the West Asia semi-final of the 2018 AFC Champions League on Tuesday, with a spot in the final of the continent’s premier football competition at stake.
This is the third IR Iran-Qatar match-up in the 2018 AFC Champions League knockout stages. The quarter-finals saw Al Sadd defeat Esteghlal 5-3 on aggregate, while Persepolis mounted a thrilling comeback in the second leg to eliminate the previously rampant Al Duhail side.
www.the-afc.com/en/club/afc_champions_league/video/group_c_al_sadd_3-1_persepolis.html
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/persepolis_team_3.html
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/h2h_persp_sadd.html
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Four teams remain in the hunt for the right to be crowned kings of Asia ahead of the hotly anticipated first legs of the 2018 AFC Champions League semi-finals in the coming week.
The 2011 winners Al Sadd of Qatar host 2017 semi-finalists Persepolis of Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday, before Japan’s Kashima Antlers welcome two-time continental champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings of Korea Republic a day later.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Al Sadd star Akram Afif has warned Persepolis his performance is only getting better the further the 2018 AFC Champions League progresses ahead of their semi-final clash against the Tehran giants next week.
Leading scorer Baghdad Bounedjah and Spanish superstar Xavi may have hogged the headlines as Al Sadd reached the AFC Champions League semi-finals, but it is young Qatari talent Akram Afif who has been one of the real success stories of the Doha club's continental campaign.
And according to the 21-year-old forward, who was recently named AFC Champions League Toyota Player of the Week, the best is very much still to come.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
As both quarter-final fixtures of West Asia side in the 2018 AFC Champions League bring Iranian and Qatari clubs head to head, the-AFC.com remembers five times teams from the two nations faced off in recent years.
For the first time since the introduction of the East v West final in 2013, all four teams in the West Asian quarter-finals come from just two countries, offering us the opportunity to watch two tasty IR Iran v Qatar encounters, as Tehran giants Estaghlal and Persepolis face Al Sadd and Al Duhail respectively.
Throughout the years, teams from the two nations have produced some classics when they met. Here are four memorable matches between them from recent editions of the competition.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The-AFC.com has announced that Persepolis' Jalal Hosseini is the winner of this week’s Goal of the Week presented by Allianz for the second leg of the 2018 AFC Champions League Quarter-finals after amassing over 40,000 votes.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The eight clubs vying for the 2018 AFC Champions League title have been busy over the summer months, with some key arrivals and departures. The-AFC.com reviews their transfer business ahead of next week’s quarter-finals.
When the AFC Champions League wheels resume turning with the last eight, some teams will have a new look, with new managers and players joining over the summer, while for others, stability is the key weapon as they pursue continental glory.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Suwon: Suwon Samsung Bluewings striker Dejan Damjanovic admits his sights are set on signing off his playing career as an AFC Champions League winner, and the tournament's all-time top goalscorer, ahead of Wednesday's semi-final against Kashima Antlers.
34 goals down, two more to go. Legendary forward Damjanovic's love-affair with Asia's premier club competition keeps enduring.
A runner-up in 2013 with FC Seoul and again a semi-finalist in 2016 with the capital city club, the prolific Montenegrin is now back in the business end of the tournament with Suwon.
Just a brace off the record of current AFC Champions League all-time top scorer Lee Dong-gook, whose side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were eliminated by Suwon in the quarter-finals, Damjanovic has one eye on that record but - naturally - both on lifting the title itself.