2020 AFC Champions League
The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title.
The Ulsan Hyundai team holds the AFC Champions League trophy | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Qualifying: 14–28 January 2020 Competition proper: 10 February – 19 December 2020 |
| Teams | Competition proper: 29 teams Total: 52 (from 23 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Ulsan Hyundai (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Persepolis |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 93 |
| Goals scored | 236 (2.54 per match) |
| Attendance | 182,388 (1,961 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Abderrazak Hamdallah Júnior Negrão (7 goals each) |
| Best player(s) | Yoon Bit-garam |
| Fair play award | Ulsan Hyundai |
Ulsan Hyundai won their second Champions League title by defeating Persepolis 2–1 in the final. Ulsan automatically qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League (although they had already qualified through their domestic performance), the first time since 2008 that the AFC Champions League holders were guaranteed automatic qualification in the following year. They also earned the right to play in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.
The tournament was the last to involve 32 teams during the group stage, which increased to 40 teams in 2021.
The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after group stage matches on 4 March 2020, and restarted on 14 September 2020. All matches after the restart were played in Qatar, with the final played at the Al Janoub Stadium.
Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, but the club effectively withdrew from the competition when they could not name the required 13 players for their final group stage match, as all but 11 players had tested positive for COVID-19. For the first time, the video assistant referee (VAR) system was in use from the quarter-finals onwards.