2020 AFC Champions League group stage
The 2020 AFC Champions League group stage was played from 10 February to 4 December 2020. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout stage of the 2020 AFC Champions League. The competition was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia after matchday 3 on 4 March 2020. On 9 July 2020, the AFC announced that it would restart on 14 September 2020. All matches after restart were played in Qatar. Draw. The draw for the group stage was held on 10 December  2019, 16:30 MYT (), at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four: four groups each in the West Region (Groups A–D) and the East Region (Groups E–H). Teams from the same association could not be drawn into the same group. The mechanism of the draw was as follows: The following 32 teams entered into the group stage draw, which included the 24 direct entrants and the eight winners of the play-off round of the qualifying play-offs, whose identity was not known at the time of the draw . Format. In the group stage, each group was played on a double round-robin basis, with matches played home-and-away before the suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but moved to centralised venues after restart. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the round of 16 of the knockout stage. Tiebreakers. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order (Regulations Article 10.5): Schedule. The original schedule of each match day, as  planned before the COVID-19 pandemic, was as follows. Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, the Australian federal government banned foreigners travelling from China, and Football Federation Australia told the AFC that Australia could no longer host matches against Chinese teams. The AFC held an emergency meeting on 4 February 2020 to determine plans for the tournament, including but not limited to rescheduling of matches in the East Region. After the meeting, the AFC decided to postpone matches involving Chinese clubs from the first three match days except for Chiangrai United versus Beijing FC: the  following matches were postponed to a later date between late February and early March, prior to AFC's announcement to postpone all matches: After meetings with representatives of the member associations from the West Region held on 7–8 March 2020, it was agreed that all West Region group stage matches on matchdays 4–6 would be postponed to new dates yet to be confirmed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia. After a meeting with representatives of the member associations from the East Region held on 2 March 2020, it was agreed that group stage matches on matchdays 3–6 which could  not be played would be moved to 19–20 May, 26–27 May, 16–17 June and 23–24 June. The AFC announced on 14 April 2020 that all matches scheduled for May and June would be postponed until further notice. Only 27 group stage matches out of the 96 scheduled had been played by then. On 9 July 2020, the AFC announced the new schedule for the remaining matches, with all matches played at centralised venues. The West Region matches postponed from matchdays 3–6 would be played on 14–15, 17–18, 20–21 and 23–24 September, and the East Region matches postponed from matchdays 1–6  would be played on 16–17, 19–20, 22–23, 25–26, 28–29 October and 31 October – 1 November. On 10 September 2020, the AFC announced that East Region group stage matches were rescheduled to be played on 18–19, 21–22, 24–25, 27–28 November, 30 November – 1 December and 3–4 December. Centralised venues after restart. On 16 July 2020, the AFC announced that Qatar would host all West Region matches after restart. On 27 July 2020, the AFC announced that Malaysia would host the East Region matches of Groups G and H after restart. However, on 9 October 2020, the AFC announced that following an  agreement with Qatar Football Association, all East Region matches after restart would also be played in Qatar. The following centralised venues in Qatar were used: