Mohun Bagan Super Giant is in Pot 3 and, after winning its first Indian Super League Shield, received automatic entrance for AFC Champions League 2.
The clubs' pot positions for the Asian Champions League (ACL) 2 were revealed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday. The draw is set for August 16 at the InterContinental in Kuala Lumpur.
Mohun Bagan Super Giant is ranked in Pot 3 with Al Hussein (Jordan), FC Istiklol (Tajikistan), and Al Khaldiya SC (Bahrain). The team won its first Indian Super League (ISL) Shield, earning it automatic entrance into ACL 2.
East Bengal, which won the Kalinga Super Cup 2024 and advanced to the ACL Two preliminary play-off, will take against Tajikistan's Altyn Asyr FC on August 14 in an attempt to secure a berth in the group stages.
AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League 2 will take the place of the AFC's former continental tournament system, which included the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup, as of the 2024–25 season.
Eight groups, four West and four East, with four teams each will compete in the Group Stage of the new second-tier men's competition. Games will be played in a home-and-away round-robin style from September 17 to December 5.
Although India—the ISL Shield winner—had previously been seeded in the ACL, its teams' spots in continental events were reduced due to the nation's low coefficient position.
As a result, India was given two berths in ACL 2, one of which was confirmed and the other conditional (prelims), rather than one position each in the ACL and AFC Cup.
