AFC Women’s Champions League:
Khatoon to play defending champion Wuhan Jiangda in group phase
Iranian club Bam Khatoon will face defending champion Wuhan Jiangda in Group B of the AFC Women’s Champions League.
The draw for the second edition of the continent’s flagship women’s club competition took place the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, where 12 teams were divided into three groups – set to battle in a centralized league format between November 9 to 23.
Khatoon and Jiangda will be joined by East Bengal FC of India and Uzbekistan’s PFC Nasaf in the same group, with the exact fixtures list yet to be confirmed by the Asian football governing body.
Wuhan Jiangda, which defeated Melbourne City in the shootout in May to lift the trophy at the inaugural edition, will host all games in Group B.
The top two teams in each group will be joined by two best third-place finishers in the last-eight round.
Group A will see top-seed Melbourne City square off against group host Ho Chi Minh City FC of Vietnam, Philippines’ Stallion Laguna FC and Lion City Sailors FC of Singapore.
The Group C challenge will be between Suwon FC Women of South Korea, Japan’s Tokyo Verdy Beleza, Naegohyang Women’s FC of North Korea and Myanmar’s ISPE WFC, which will host the group.
A 12-time Iranian top-flight champion, Khatoon, which has won the domestic league in the past four seasons, finished runner-up to Melbourne City in the group table to progress to the knockout phase last season, before suffering a 1-0 loss to South Korea’s Incheon Red Angels in the quarterfinals.