On August 24, the draw ceremony for the group stage of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League season was held in Kuala Lumpur, and Shandong Taishan team participated as the champions of the FA Cup. After the draw, the Taishan team joined the Yokohama Mariners of Japan, Kaya of the Philippines and Incheon United of South Korea in Group G.
In the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League season, the New Year's Eve format will be implemented for the first time, with 20 teams from the East Asian Zone participating, divided into 5 groups, 4 teams in each group, 5 groups first directly qualified, and 3 better group runners qualified for qualification. The AFC Champions League group stage will run from September 19 to December 13, 2023, and the knockout stage will be from February to May 2024. Three teams from the Chinese Super League participated, namely Chinese Super League champion Wuhan Three Towns, FA Cup champion Shandong Taishan and Chinese Super League third Zhejiang team, and Shanghai Port lost 2-3 to Thailand's Pathum United in the play-offs.
According to the comprehensive league ranking and team results, the 20 teams were divided into four brackets for the draw, Wuhan Three Towns was the first gear, Shandong Taishan was the second gear, and Zhejiang was the fourth gear. The group stage draw follows the principle of avoidance by teams from the same league, and after the draw, Shandong Taishan and Japanese champion Yokohama Mariners, Philippine champion Kaya and South Korea's Incheon United. The three towns of Wuhan are in the same group as Pohang Iron Man, Hanoi in Vietnam, and Puhe Red Diamond. Zhejiang is in the same group as Buriram United, Japanese J2 League side Kofu Fenglin and Melbourne City in Australia.
In the history of the AFC Champions League, Taishan has played 11 times, with the best result being reaching the last eight in 2005 and 2016. In the group stage of the 2022 AFC Champions League, Taishan team arranged young players to play, and the group stage result was 1 draw and 5 defeats, and the only draw was to end the Chinese Super League team's 15-game losing streak in the AFC Champions League. In the new season of the AFC Champions League, the Taishan team will play for the 12th time, and the team will arrange the main players to play and strive for the best results.
In the West Asia zone, Riyadh Victory is in the same group as Persepolis, Duhaile and Ittilol, and Cristiano Ronaldo will play.
AFC Champions League Schedule:
First Round 19 or 20 September Kaya vs Shandong Taishan, Philippines
Second round October 3 or 4 Shandong Taishan vs Yokohama Mariners
Third round October 24 or 25 Incheon United vs Shandong Taishan
4th Round November 7 or 8 Shandong Taisan VS Incheon United
Round 5 November 27 or 28 Shandong Taishan VS Philippine Kaya
Round 6 December 12 or 13 Yokohama Mariners vs Shandong Taizan