Japan will host this year’s delayed AFC Champions League (CL) knock-out stages for teams in the East of Asia, the region’s football governing body said Monday. The East Zone’s round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final matches will be played in August as single-leg ties, the Asian Football Confederation said. Saitama, just outside Tokyo, will host the first knockout round in the east. The West Zone, which comprises mostly clubs from the Middle East, will not play its knockout rounds until February 2023 at venues still to be decided. The draw for the east pitted South Korea rivals Daegu FC and Jeonbuk Motors against other and Thailand’s Pathum Utd against Hong Kong’s Kitchee.
