AFC Asian Champions League
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| Founded | 1967 (since 2002 in its current format) |
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| Region | Asia (AFC) |
| Number of teams | 45 (total) 32 (group stage) |
| Qualifier for | FIFA Club World Cup |
| Related competitions | AFC Cup |
| Current champions |
 Urawa Red Diamonds (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
 Pohang Steelers (3 titles) |
| Website | AFC Champions League |
 2018 AFC Champions League
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The AFC Champions League, commonly known as the Asian Champions League, is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Introduced in 2002, the competition is a continuation of the Asian Club Championship which had started in 1967. It is the premier club tournament in Asia, equivalent to the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores, and the UEFA, CAF, CONCACAF and OFC Champions League competitions.
A total of 32 clubs compete in the round robin group stage of the competition. Clubs from Asia's strongest national leagues receive automatic berths, with clubs from lower-ranked nations eligible to qualify via the qualifying playoffs, and they are also eligible to participate in the AFC Cup. Since 2009, the champions do not qualify automatically for the following year's competition. The winner of the AFC Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup.
The most successful club in the competition is the Pohang Steelers with a total of three titles. The reigning champions of the competition are the Urawa Red Diamonds.
The competition started as the Asian Club Championship, a tournament for the champions of each AFC nation, and had a variety of different formats, with the inaugural tournament staged as a straightforward knockout format and the following three editions consisting of a group stage. Israeli clubs dominated the first four editions of the competition, partly due to the refusal of Arab teams to face them. In 1970, Lebanese side Homenetmen refused to play against Hapoel Tel Aviv in the semi-final and Hapoel thus went straight to the final, while in 1971, Al-Shorta of Iraq refused to play against Maccabi Tel Aviv on two separate occasions in the tournament including the finale itself, with the Iraqis considering themselves as the tournament's winners and holding an open top bus parade. After these two editions, the AFC stopped holding the competition and Israel were expelled from the confederation. Asia's premier club tournament made its return in 1985, and in 1990, the Asian Football Confederation introduced the Asian Cup Winners' Cup, a tournament for the cup winners of each AFC nation. The 1995 season saw the introduction of the Asian Super Cup where the winners of the Asian Club Championship and Asian Cup Winners' Cup faced against each other.
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