DEFENDING champion Guangzhou Evergrande crashed out of the AFC Champions League after group rivals Sydney FC and Urawa Red Diamonds played out a goalless draw Wednesday.

    Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Chinese giant won its first game a day earlier but it proved futile as Sydney and Urawa secured the top two spots in Group H with one match to spare.

    Sydney reached the last 16 for the first time alongside Urawa, while Chinese Super League champion Evergrande was left licking its wounds after its earliest exit from the competition.

    Evergrande won its second Asian title in three seasons last year and the team spent big in the offseason, buying Atletico Madrid striker Jackson Martinez for 42 million euros (US$48 million).

    But it will now have to watch as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Shanghai SIPG lead the Chinese charge in the knockout stages.

    China’s Shandong Luneng also progressed from Group F after Diego Tardelli’s 10th-minute header from a long-range free-kick was enough to eliminate Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1-0.

    Group F leader FC Seoul beat Thailand’s Buriram United 2-1 to confirm its place in the last 16, but Group E will go down to the wire in next month’s final round of pool games.

    Only two points separate the top three after China’s Jiangsu Suning beat Vietnam’s Binh Duong 3-0 to go second, and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors displaced leader FC Tokyo with a 3-0 away win.  (SD-Agencies)