2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup


The 2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup, known officially as the 2018–19 Zayed Champions Cup to mark 100 years since the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was the 28th season of the Arab World's inter-club football tournament organised by UAFA, and the first season since it was renamed from the Arab Club Championship to the Arab Club Champions Cup.
The final was played at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, between Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia and Étoile du Sahel of Tunisia. It was the fourth time Al-Hilal reached the final in their history, while it marked the first appearance of Étoile du Sahel in this stage. Étoile du Sahel defeated Al-Hilal 2–1 in the final and won the title for the first time in their history, becoming the third Tunisian team to win the competition in the last five editions.
Espérance de Tunis were the defending champions, having won the title in the previous edition. They were eliminated by Al-Ittihad Alexandria in the first round.

Prize money

The prize money was as follows:
A total of 40 teams participated in the tournament; 20 from Asia and 20 from Africa. 10 clubs started in the qualifying play-off where two of them advanced to the first round which consisted of 32 teams. From then on, the tournament was played in a knockout format with home and away legs, until the final which was a one-leg match played in the United Arab Emirates. Due to the new format of the competition only being announced after the 2016–17 season had already ended, UAFA decided that for this edition of the tournament, teams would be invited to participate rather than strictly qualifying through performance in the 2016–17 season's domestic competitions.

  • Palestine
  • Qatar
  • Yemen

;Notes

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows:
PhaseRoundDraw dateDates
Qualifying play-offPreliminary round24 April 20185–9 May 2018
Qualifying play-offPlay-off round24 April 201817–24 May 2018
Knockout stageFirst round24 April 201831 July – 30 September 2018
Knockout stageSecond round6 October 201827 October – 11 December 2018
Knockout stageQuarter-finals17 December 201826 January – 25 February 2019
Knockout stageSemi-finals17 December 201827 February – 15 April 2019
Knockout stageFinal17 December 201818 April 2019

Qualifying rounds

Preliminary round


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Play-off round

Group A


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Group B


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Knockout phase

Bracket

First round

Second round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Top scorers

Broadcasting