Kuala Lumpur: Less than a fortnight after the conclusion of a highly entertaining AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™, Asian club football moves into gear with the AFC Champions League play-offs kicking off on Saturday, 12 February. Six teams are vying for two spots in the 2011 edition of the AFC Champions League, Asia’s richest club tournament.
>From the West are three sides: AFC Cup 2010 champions Al Ittihad of Syria, Dempo SC of India, and Qatari heavyweights Al Sadd. On the Eastern front the UAE’s Al Ain, who won the inaugural title in 2002-03, Thailand’s rising power Muang Thong United, and Indonesian club Sriwijaya. The first leg of action will see Al Sadd clash with Al Ittihad at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium while Sriwijaya will host Muang Thong at their Jaka Baring Stadium stronghold. In the decisive second leg on 19 February, the winners of the Al Sadd-Al Itthad match will play Dempo with the victors joining Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia), Esteghlal (Iran), and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in Group B of the AFC Champions League. On the other side of the continent, Al Ain will play the winners of the Sriwijaya-Muang Thong encounter on 19 February with the side which comes out on top progressing to Group F where FC Seoul (Korea Republic), Hangzhou Greentown (China) and Nagoya Grampus (Japan) are waiting. The losers will play in the second-tier AFC Cup. The group phase of the continental showcase kicks off on 1 and 2 March and winds up on 10 and 11 May, setting the stage for the Round of 16
