2015 AFC Champions League Final
# 2015 AFC Champions League Final

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 earned the right to represent the AFC at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the quarterfinal stage.

## Qualified teams

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

## Venues

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.

## Road to the final

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

| Al-Ahli | Al-Ahli | Al-Ahli | Al-Ahli | Round | Guangzhou Evergrande | Guangzhou Evergrande | Guangzhou Evergrande | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Result | Result | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | Result | Result |
| Al-Ahli | 3–3 (H) | 3–3 (H) | 3–3 (H) | Matchday 1 | FC Seoul | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) |
| Tractor Sazi | 0–1 (A) | 0–1 (A) | 0–1 (A) | Matchday 2 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 3–2 (A) | 3–2 (A) | 3–2 (A) |
| FC Nasaf | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | Matchday 3 | Kashima Antlers | 4–3 (H) | 4–3 (H) | 4–3 (H) |
| FC Nasaf | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | Matchday 4 | Kashima Antlers | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) |
| Al-Ahli | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | Matchday 5 | FC Seoul | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) |
| Tractor Sazi | 3–2 (H) | 3–2 (H) | 3–2 (H) | Matchday 6 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 0–2 (H) | 0–2 (H) | 0–2 (H) |
| Group D runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Ahli 6 12 2 Al-Ahli 6 8 3 Nasaf Qarshi 6 8 4 Tractor Sazi 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Ahli 6 12 2 Al-Ahli 6 8 3 Nasaf Qarshi 6 8 4 Tractor Sazi 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D runners-up Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Al-Ahli 6 12 2 Al-Ahli 6 8 3 Nasaf Qarshi 6 8 4 Tractor Sazi 6 4 Source: AFC | Group D runners-up Pos Teamvte 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 Teamvte 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 | Group H winner Pos Teamvte 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 | Group H winner Pos Teamvte 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 | Group H winner Pos Teamvte 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) |

## Rules

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.

## Match details

### First leg

**Details**

| 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' |
| CB | 28 | Kim Young-gwon |
| FW | 29 | Gao Lin | | 46' |
| Manager: ||
| Luiz Felipe Scolari ||

* AFC Man of the Match:
* Zheng Zhi (Guangzhou Evergrande)
* Assistant referees:
* Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)
* Yoon Kwang-yeol (South Korea)
* Fourth official:
* Kim Hee-gon (South Korea)

**Statistics**

First half :

| | Al-Ahli | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 2 | 5 |
| Shots on target | 1 | 1 |
| Saves | 1 | 1 |
| Ball possession | 41% | 59% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 5 |
| Fouls committed | 7 | 4 |
| Offsides | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |

Second half :

| | Al-Ahli | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 4 | 3 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 3 |
| Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 47% | 53% |
| Corner kicks | 4 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 13 | 4 |
| Offsides | 1 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 1 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |

Overall :

| | Al-Ahli | Guangzhou Evergrande |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 6 | 8 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 4 |
| Saves | 3 | 4 |
| Ball possession | 47% | 53% |
| Corner kicks | 7 | 6 |
| Fouls committed | 20 | 8 |
| Offsides | 2 | 0 |
| Yellow cards | 1 | 2 |
| Red cards | 1 | 0 |

### Second leg

**Details**

| 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 Man of the Match:
* Elkeson (Guangzhou Evergrande)
* Assistant referees:
* Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)
* Jahongir Saidov (Uzbekistan)
* Fourth official:
* Valentin Kovalenko (Uzbekistan)

**Statistics**

First half :

| | Guangzhou Evergrande | Al-Ahli |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 0 | 0 |
| Total shots | 6 | 3 |
| Shots on target | 3 | 2 |
| Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 53% | 47% |
| Corner kicks | 3 | 0 |
| Fouls committed | 5 | 5 |
| Offsides | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow cards | 0 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |

Second half :

| | Guangzhou Evergrande | Al-Ahli |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 3 | 1 |
| Shots on target | 1 | 0 |
| Saves | 0 | 0 |
| Ball possession | 57% | 43% |
| Corner kicks | 2 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 7 | 11 |
| Offsides | 0 | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 0 |
| Red cards | 0 | 1 |

Overall :

| | Guangzhou Evergrande | Al-Ahli |
| - | - | - |
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 9 | 4 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 2 |
| Saves | 2 | 3 |
| Ball possession | 57% | 43% |
| Corner kicks | 5 | 1 |
| Fouls committed | 12 | 16 |
| Offsides | 1 | 4 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 1 |
| Red cards | 0 | 1 |
