GUANGZHOU TO FACE WESTERN SYDNEY IN ACL QUARTER-FINALS

Reigning champions Guangzhou Evergrande will take on Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers in the quarter-finals of the 2014 AFC Champions League as Marcello Lippi’s team seek to become only the second side to successfully retain the title.

Guangzhou, who became the first Chinese club to win the title when they defeated FC Seoul in last year’s final, travel to Australia for the first leg on August 19 before hosting the return fixture  week later.

The winners will face opposition from Korea Republic after Pohang Steelers and FC Seoul were drawn to face one another, setting up the prospect in the semi-finals of a repeat of the 2013 final when Guangzhou defeated FC Seoul on the away goals rule.

“The eight teams who have made it into the quarter-finals are good teams and many of them have either won the AFC Champions League before or have been very close,” said Guangzhou captain and reigning AFC Player of the Year Zheng Zhi.

“They are experienced and competitive and I think the quality of these teams is the best in all the years of the competition.

“Western Sydney Wanderers are a very competitive team. We have lost one game in Australia already this year but they’re a good team and, even though they’re younger than all the other teams, we will still have to prepare well.”

In the western half of the draw, Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad, the only team to win back-to-back AFC Champions League titles when they did so in 2004 and 2005, meet inaugural winners Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals in a re-run of the 2005 final won by Al Ittihad.

Al Hilal, another former continental champion, take on 2012 winners Al Sadd from Qatar with the Saudi side hosting the first leg at the King Fahd International Stadium.

“Al Hilal were a strong team in our group before we qualified and we will play with them again,” said Al Sadd sporting director Mohammed Gholam.

“We have played against them seven times in the history of the AFC Champions League but this will be different because before we face them we can sign some new players.

“We hope to do well and get a result for our club and our country and we are hoping we can play the AFC Champions League final. We want the final to come to Qatar for the first time.”

The first leg of the quarter-finals will be played on August 19 and 20, with the return on August 26 and 27.

The semi-finals, meanwhile, will be played on a home-and-away basis on September 16 and 17, with the second leg to be played on September 30 and October 1.

The final will also be played over two legs, when the winners of the western semi-final will face off against the victors in the semi-final from the east of the continent.

The first leg will be played on October 25 and the second leg will be on November 1.

AFC Champions League 2014 Draw

QF 1: Al Hilal (KSA) v Al Sadd (QAT)

QF 2: Al Ain (UAE) v Al Ittihad (KSA)

QF 3: Pohang Steelers (KOR) v FC Seoul (KOR)

QF 4: Western Sydney Wanderers (AUS) v Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN)