AFC Champions League Two 2024-25: Sydney FC drawn with ...
Australian football club Sydney FC have been drawn in Group E of the AFC Champions League Two 2024-25 season on Friday.
The A-League side will take on Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan, Kaya F.C.–Iloilo of the Philippines and Hong Kong-based club Eastern FC in the group stages. The Sky Blues will face Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Eastern FC for the first time.
However, Sydney FC should be the favourites to win the contest against Kaya FC, having defeated them 5-0 in the AFC Champions League two years ago. Deyvison Rogerio da Silva and Adam Le Fondre recorded braces in that game.
Sydney FC qualified for the AFC Champions League Two 2024-25 after winning the Australia Cup last year.
Japanese side Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the top seeds in Group E. They finished third in the J1 League last season and are currently ranked third. Kaya-Iloilo, seeded third in the group, qualified by winning the 2024 Philippines League while Eastern FC made the cut by winning the Hong Kong FA Cup last season.
The AFC Champions League Two was known as the AFC Cup until last season. The final season of the AFC Cup, in its previous format, was won by another Australian club Central Coast Mariners. The Mariners will compete in the inaugural edition of the AFC Champions League Elite this season.
Champions League Two consists of 32 clubs that have been divided into eight groups of four teams each.
The teams will face each other in a round-robin home-and-away format with the group stage of the AFC Champions League Two to be held between September 17 and December 5.
The top two sides in each group will qualify for the knockout stages which will begin with the round of 16 in February 2025.
The quarter-finals of the competition will be conducted in March while the semi-finals take place in April. The AFC Champions League Two final will be held on May 17, 2025.
