Liberty A-League premiers Melbourne City have discovered their group-stage opponents for the inaugural 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League.
Drawn in Group B, City will travel to Thailand to face hosts College of Asian Scholars, Filipino champions Kaya FC and the Winner of Group D of the Preliminary Stage, beginning in October.
City, who are looking for a new head coach following Dario Vidosic’s move to Women’s Super League (WSL) side Brighton and Hove Albion, secured direct qualification for the Champions League as a result of claiming the 2023-24 Liberty A-League Premier’s Plate.
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It is a new era for Asian club football, with the very first edition of the AFC Women’s Champions League set to take place as part of a revamped approach to the confederation’s elite club competitions.
The first Women’s Champions League campaign comes after three editions of the Women’s Club Championship – the AFC’s “pilot” program.
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Liberty A-League club Sydney FC took part in the 2023 tournament after finishing the 2022-23 domestic season as Premiers; now, for the inaugural Women’s Champions League campaign, reigning Liberty A-League Premiers Melbourne City will represent Australia alongside 21 rival clubs from 21 different Asian nations.
The format
The 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League campaign has three phases: a preliminary stage, a group stage, and the knockout stage.
The 22 clubs set to take part in the tournament are ranked from 1-22 in order of their Member Association’s standing on FIFA’s World Rankings. The eight highest-ranked nations get a direct pass to the group stage. The remaining 14 take place in the preliminary stage.
Australia is ranked 12th in the world and third in the AFC; as a result, Melbourne City have earned a direct slot in the group stage.
The 22 clubs (two to be confirmed) are listed below in order of their nation’s Member Association. Nations ranked 1-8 below have progressed to the group stage.
The preliminary round will take place between August 25-31 in a centralised location. The 14 clubs involved will be split into four groups – two groups of four teams and two groups of three.
The four group winners will progress to the group stage to join the eight teams already qualified via Member Association rankings.
The group stage will feature 12 clubs and take place in a centralised location between October 6-12. The 12 clubs will be split into three groups of four. Each club will play their three group opponents once each across three matchdays.
The top two clubs in each group after the group stage will progress to the Quarter-Finals – as will the two best third-placed sides from the three groups.
The knockout stage will follow the Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final format.
The four Quarter-Final matchups will be confirmed via a draw, with the higher-ranked team of each tie to serve as the home side. The Quarter-Finals will be single-leg encounters and take place between March 22 and 23.
Then comes the Finals: between May 21 and 24, the four Semi-Finalists will assemble in a centralised location (TBC) for both of the single-leg Semis as well as the Final.
The prize money
There’s significant financial incentive for City as the Liberty A-League’s representative in the 2024-25 Women’s Champions League campaign, with the winner of the inaugural edition of the tournament set to take home at least USD 1.3 million (roughly AUD 1.95 million).
City have secured automatic qualification to the group stage, which is great news for the Liberty A-League side as each group stage participant is set to receive an automatic prize of USD 100,000 (roughly AUD 150,000).
Should City reach the Quarter-Finals, an additional USD 80,000 (AUD 120,000) would go the way of Dario Vidosic’s side.
City would receive a further USD 120,000 (AUD 180,000) for reaching the Semi-Finals – and should the Liberty A-League side make the final but fall short, the runners-up would receive an additional USD 500,000 (AUD 750,000). The winners would receive an additional USD 1 million (AUD 1.5 million), taking the winning club’s total winnings to USD 1.3 million (AUD 1.95 million).
