Vietnam, China to compete in 2015 AFC Champions League

Vietnam's V-League champions 2014, Becamex Binh Duong, will play with China's FA Cup winners, Shandong Luneng Taishan, in Vietnam's southern Binh Duong province on Tuesday, announced the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) on its website on Monday.

It will be the first Group-E match in the East Asia group stage, of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL), as a result of the ACL's official draw held in December last year.

Accordingly, Group-E included Vietnam's Becamex Binh Duong, China's Shandong Luneng Taishan, South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, and winner of play-off 2 (East).

China's Shandong Luneng Taishan had seven times joining in the group stage of ACL, with the best performance at ACL's quarterfinals in 2005.

Meanwhile, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors was the 2006 ACL winners and 2011 runners-up.

The AFC Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is also called the top-level Asian club football tournament.

A total of 32 teams from Asia's strongest national leagues will feature the group stage tournament which are divided into eight groups, with four groups from West Asia and four groups from East Asia.

Each group will compete under the round robin format, and the first two teams of each group will progress. Finally, the winner of the tournament will be qualified for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup.

The 2015 AFC Champions League is the 34th edition of the tournament. The group stage will be held from Feb. 24 to May 6, according to the AFC.