2015 CAF Champions League

2015 CAF Champions League

2015 Orange CAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates	13 February – 8 November 2015
Teams	57 (from 44 associations)
Final positions
Champions	TP Mazembe (5th title)
Runners-up	USM Alger
Tournament statistics
Matches played	126
Goals scored	268 (2.13 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Bakri Al-Madina Mbwana Samatta (7 goals each)
← 2014 2016 →

The 2015 CAF Champions League (officially the 2015 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 19th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner qualified for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play in the 2016 CAF Super Cup. ^[1]

TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo won the competition for the fifth time in their history after a 4–1 aggregate victory over USM Alger of Algeria in the final. ^[2] ES Sétif were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.

Association team allocation

All 56 CAF member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their CAF 5-year ranking eligible to enter two teams in the competition. The title holders can also enter. ^[1] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.

For the 2015 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2009–2013 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculates points for each entrant association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points are the following: ^[3]

	CAF Champions League	CAF Confederation Cup
Winner	5 points	4 points
Runner-up	4 points	3 points
Losing semi-finalists	3 points	2 points
3rd place in groups	2 points	1 point
4th place in groups	1 point	1 point

The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:

• 2013 – 5
• 2012 – 4
• 2011 – 3
• 2010 – 2
• 2009 – 1

Teams

The following 57 teams from 44 associations entered the competition.

Teams in bold received a bye to the first round. The other teams entered the preliminary round.

Associations are shown according to their 2009–2013 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated. ^[4]

Association	Team	Qualifying method
Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)
Tunisia (1st – 106 pts)	Espérance de Tunis	2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champion
	CS Sfaxien	2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runner-up
Egypt (2nd – 80 pts)	Al-Ahly	2013–14 Egyptian Premier League champion
	Smouha	2013–14 Egyptian Premier League runner-up
DR Congo (3rd – 46 pts)	TP Mazembe	2013–14 Linafoot champion
	SM Sanga Balende	2013–14 Linafoot runner-up
Morocco (4th – 44 pts)	Moghreb Tétouan	2013–14 Botola champion
	Raja Casablanca	2013–14 Botola runner-up
Nigeria (5th – 41 pts)	Kano Pillars	2014 Nigeria Professional Football League champion
	Enyimba	2014 Nigeria Professional Football League runner-up
Sudan (6th – 37 pts)	Al-Hilal	2014 Sudan Premier League champion
	Al-Merrikh	2014 Sudan Premier League runner-up
Algeria (T-7th – 32 pts)	USM Alger	2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champion
	ES Sétif	Title holders (2014 CAF Champions League winner) 2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place
	MC El Eulma	2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place [Note ALG]
Mali (T-7th – 32 pts)	Stade Malien	2013–14 Malian Première Division champion
	Club Olympique de Bamako	2013–14 Malian Première Division runner-up
Cameroon (T-9th – 21 pts)	Coton Sport	2014 Elite One champion
	Cosmos de Bafia	2014 Elite One runner-up
Congo (T-9th – 21 pts)	AC Léopards	2014 Congo Premier League first place before abandoned
	Diables Noirs	2014 Congo Premier League second place before abandoned
South Africa (11th – 20 pts)	Mamelodi Sundowns	2013–14 South African Premier Division champion
	Kaizer Chiefs	2013–14 South African Premier Division runner-up
Angola (12th – 17 pts)	Recreativo do Libolo	2014 Girabola champion
	Kabuscorp	2014 Girabola runner-up
Associations eligible to enter one team
Ivory Coast (13th – 13 pts)	Séwé Sport	2013–14 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champion
Ghana (14th – 8 pts)	Asante Kotoko	2013–14 Ghanaian Premier League champion
Ethiopia (15th – 5 pts)	Saint George	2013–14 Ethiopian Premier League champion
Libya (T-16th – 4 pts)	Al-Ahli Tripoli	2013–14 Libyan Premier League champion
Zambia (T-16th – 4 pts)	ZESCO United	2014 Zambian Premier League champion
Niger (19th – 2 pts)	AS GNN	2013–14 Niger Premier League champion
Benin	Buffles du Borgou	2013–14 Benin Premier League champion
Botswana	Township Rollers	2013–14 Botswana Premier League champion
Burkina Faso	Étoile Filante	2013–14 Burkinabé Premier League champion
Burundi	LLB Académic	2013–14 Burundi Premier League champion
Chad	Foullah Edifice	2014 Ligue de N'Djaména champion
Comoros	Fomboni Club	2014 Comoros Premier League champion
Equatorial Guinea	Sony Elá Nguema	2014 Equatoguinean Premier League champion
Gabon	AS Mangasport	2013–14 Gabon Championnat National D1 champion
Gambia	Real Banjul	2014 GFA League First Division champion [Note GAM]
Guinea	AS Kaloum	2013–14 Guinée Championnat National champion
Kenya	Gor Mahia	2014 Kenyan Premier League champion
Lesotho	Bantu	2013–14 Lesotho Premier League champion
Liberia	Barrack Young Controllers	2013–14 Liberian First Division League champion
Madagascar	CNaPS Sport	2014 THB Champions League champion
Malawi	Big Bullets	2014 Super League of Malawi champion
Mozambique	Liga Muçulmana	2014 Moçambola champion
Rwanda	APR	2013–14 Rwanda National Football League champion
Senegal	AS Pikine	2013–14 Senegal Premier League champion
Seychelles	St Michel United	2014 Seychelles First Division champion
Sierra Leone	East End Lions	2014 Sierra Leone National Premier League first place before abandoned
South Sudan	Al-Malakia	2014 South Sudan National Cup winner
Swaziland	Mbabane Swallows	2013–14 Swazi Premier League runner-up
Tanzania	Azam	2013–14 Tanzanian Premier League champion
Togo	AC Semassi	2014 Togolese Championnat National champion
Uganda	Kampala City Council	2013–14 Uganda Super League champion
Zanzibar	KMKM	2013–14 Zanzibar Premier League champion

Associations which did not enter a team

Zimbabwe (18th – 3 pts) Cape Verde Central African Republic Djibouti Eritrea Guinea-Bissau Mauritania Mauritius Namibia Réunion São Tomé and Príncipe Somalia

Notes

1. ^
   Algeria (ALG): JS Kabylie, the 2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runner-up, was suspended by the CAF for two years due to the death of Albert Ebossé during their league home match against USM Alger. ^{[5] [6]} On 11 February 2015, the CAS overturned the suspension. ^[7] However, their replacement MC El Eulma continued to represent Algeria in the 2015 CAF Champions League.
2. ^
   Gambia (GAM): Gambia were originally not able to enter a team after the association was suspended from all CAF competitions for two years for deliberately fielding overage players in the 2015 African U-20 Championship qualification match against Liberia, ^{[8] [9] [10]} but the ban was lifted by the CAF following new election of the Gambia Football Association. ^[11]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt). ^[12]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	Preliminary round	22 December 2014 [13]	13–15 February 2015	27 February–1 March 2015
	First round		13–15 March 2015	3–5 April 2015
	Second round		17–19 April 2015	1–3 May 2015
Group stage	Matchday 1	5 May 2015 [14]	26–28 June 2015
	Matchday 2		10–12 July 2015
	Matchday 3		24–26 July 2015
	Matchday 4		7–9 August 2015
	Matchday 5		21–23 August 2015
	Matchday 6		11–13 September 2015
Knockout stage	Semi-finals		25–27 September 2015	2–4 October 2015
	Final		30 October–1 November 2015	6–8 November 2015

Qualifying rounds

Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 December 2014. ^[15]

Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played). ^[1]

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Mbabane Swallows	1–2	ZESCO United	1–1	0–1
Séwé Sport	2–3	AS Kaloum	1–2	1–1
USM Alger	4–3	Foullah Edifice	3–0	1–3
AS Pikine	1–0	Étoile Filante	1–0	0–0
Al-Hilal	2–1	KMKM	2–0	0–1
Fomboni Club	2–3	Big Bullets	0–1	2–2
Recreativo do Libolo	3–3 (a)	SM Sanga Balende	3–1	0–2
Kampala City Council	1–3	Cosmos de Bafia	1–0	0–3
Azam	2–3	Al-Merrikh	2–0	0–3
LLB Académic	0–1	Kabuscorp	0–0	0–1
Sony Elá Nguema	1–2	AC Semassi	1–1	0–1
MC El Eulma	2–2 (a)	Saint George	1–0	1–2
East End Lions	w/o [A]	Asante Kotoko	—	—
Enyimba	4–0	Buffles du Borgou	3–0	1–0
Al-Ahli Tripoli	1–1 (3–5 p)	Smouha	1–0	0–1
Gor Mahia	3–3 (a)	CNaPS Sport	1–0	2–3
Liga Muçulmana	1–2	APR	0–0	1–2
Club Olympique de Bamako	2–3	Moghreb Tétouan	2–0	0–3
Al-Malakia	0–5	Kano Pillars	0–2	0–3
Real Banjul	2–1	Barrack Young Controllers	1–1	1–0
Kaizer Chiefs	3–1	Township Rollers	2–1	1–0
Raja Casablanca	6–2	Diables Noirs	4–0	2–2
St Michel United	1–4	Mamelodi Sundowns	1–1	0–3
AS Mangasport	1–0	Bantu	1–0	0–0
Stade Malien	1–1 (a)	AS GNN	0–0	1–1

Notes

1. ^
   Asante Kotoko won on walkover after East End Lions withdrew. ^[16]

First round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
ZESCO United	2–2 (4–5 p)	AS Kaloum	1–1	1–1
USM Alger	6–2	AS Pikine	5–1	1–1
Al-Hilal	5–1	Big Bullets	4–0	1–1
Coton Sport	0–2	SM Sanga Balende	0–0	0–2
Cosmos de Bafia	1–4	Espérance de Tunis	0–1	1–3
Al-Merrikh	3–2	Kabuscorp	2–0	1–2
AC Semassi	0–6	CS Sfaxien	0–5	0–1
MC El Eulma	2–1	Asante Kotoko	0–0	2–1
Enyimba	1–2	Smouha	1–0	0–2
Gor Mahia	0–2	AC Léopards	0–1	0–1
APR	0–4	Al-Ahly	0–2	0–2
Moghreb Tétouan	5–2	Kano Pillars	4–0	1–2
Real Banjul	1–3	ES Sétif	1–1	0–2
Kaizer Chiefs	0–3	Raja Casablanca	0–1	0–2
Mamelodi Sundowns	2–3	TP Mazembe	1–0	1–3
AS Mangasport	2–5	Stade Malien	1–3	1–2

Second round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
USM Alger	3–2	AS Kaloum	2–1	1–1
SM Sanga Balende	0–2	Al-Hilal	0–1	0–1
Al-Merrikh	2–2 (a)	Espérance de Tunis	1–0	1–2
MC El Eulma	1–1 (7–6 p)	CS Sfaxien	1–0	0–1
AC Léopards	1–2	Smouha	1–0	0–2
Moghreb Tétouan	1–1 (4–3 p)	Al-Ahly	1–0	0–1
Raja Casablanca	4–4 (1–4 p)	ES Sétif	2–2	2–2
Stade Malien	3–4	TP Mazembe	2–2	1–2

The losers of the second round entered the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup play-off round.

Group stage

Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League group stage

Sétif

El Eulma

Alger

Mazembe

Smouha

Tétouan

Al-Hilal

Al-Merrikh

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2015 CAF Champions League group stage.
Group A.
Group B.

The draw for the group stage was held on 5 May 2015, 11:00 UTC+2, at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. ^{[17] [18]} The eight winners of the second round were drawn into two groups of four. Each group contained one team from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2, and two teams from Pot 3. ^[19] The seeding of each team was determined by their ranking points calculated based on performances in continental club championships for the period 2010–2014.

The following eight teams were entered into the draw:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
TP Mazembe (41 pts) ES Sétif (31 pts)	Al-Hilal (24 pts) Al-Merrikh (6 pts)	MC El Eulma (0 pt) USM Alger (0 pt) Smouha (0 pt) Moghreb Tétouan (0 pt)

Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

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 would be applied in the following order: [1] Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned; Goal difference in games between the teams concerned; Goals scored in games between the teams concerned; Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned; If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply; Goal difference in all games; Goals scored in all games; Away goals scored in all games; Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TPM	HIL	MAT	SMO
1	TP Mazembe	6	3	2	1	8	1	+7	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	0–0	5–0	1–0
2	Al-Hilal	6	2	3	1	5	3	+2	9			1–0	—	0–1	2–0
3	Moghreb Tétouan	6	2	2	2	6	10	−4	8			0–0	1–1	—	2–1
4	Smouha	6	1	1	4	5	10	−5	4			0–2	1–1	3–2	—

Source: CAF

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		USM	MER	ESS	MCE
1	USM Alger	6	5	0	1	9	3	+6	15	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–0	3–0	2–1
2	Al-Merrikh	6	4	1	1	9	4	+5	13			1–0	—	2–0	2–0
3	ES Sétif	6	1	2	3	5	10	−5	5			1–2	1–1	—	2–2
4	MC El Eulma	6	0	1	5	5	11	−6	1			0–1	2–3	0–1	—

Source: CAF

Knockout stage

Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League knockout stage

Knockout ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played). ^[1]

Bracket

	Semi-finals							Final
	1	Al-Hilal	1	0	1
	4	USM Alger	2	0	2
								USM Alger		1	0	1
								TP Mazembe		2	2	4
	3	Al-Merrikh	2	0	2
	2	TP Mazembe	1	3	4

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the group A winners played the group B runners-up, and the group B winners played the group A runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Merrikh	2–4	TP Mazembe	2–1	0–3
Al-Hilal	1–2	USM Alger	1–2	0–0

Final

Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League Final

In the final, the order of legs was determined by a draw, held after the group stage draw.

31 October 2015

20:30 UTC+1

USM Alger	1–2	TP Mazembe
Seguer 89'	Report	Kalaba 28' Samatta 79' (pen.)

Stade Omar Hamadi, Algiers

Attendance: 15.000

Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

8 November 2015

15:30 UTC+2

TP Mazembe	2–0	USM Alger
Samatta 74' (pen.) Assalé 90+3'	Report

Stade TP Mazembe, Lubumbashi

Attendance: 18,000

Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Bakri Al-Madina	Al-Merrikh	7
	Mbwana Samatta	TP Mazembe
3	Mouhcine Iajour	Moghreb Tétouan	6
	Roger Assalé	TP Mazembe
5	Christian Osaguona	Raja Casablanca	5
6	Youcef Belaïli	USM Alger	4
	Rainford Kalaba	TP Mazembe
	Justine Zulu	ZESCO United
9	Kaddour Beldjilali	USM Alger	3
	Mohamed Rabie Meftah	USM Alger
	Mohamed Seguer	USM Alger
	Kabamba Mukundi	SM Sanga Balende
	Hermann Kouao	Smouha
	Kabongo Kassongo	Kaloum Star
	Adil Karrouchy	Raja Casablanca
	Mohammed Gambo	Kano Pillars
	Mudather Careca	Al-Hilal
	Nizar Hamid	Al-Hilal
	Boubacar Kébé	Al-Hilal
	Ahmed Abdalla	Al-Merrikh
	Yannick N'Djeng	Espérance de Tunis

See also

• 2015 CAF Confederation Cup
• 2015 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2016 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "Regulations of the CAF Champions League" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
2. "TP Mazembe beat USM Alger to win African Champions League". BBC Sport. 8 November 2015.
3. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
4. "Two South African clubs for each Interclub Competition". CAF. 29 November 2014.
5. "Affaire Ebossé, La JS Kabyle suspendue deux années par la CAF" (in French). Goal.com. 21 September 2014.
6. "JS Kabylie given two year Caf ban over Ebosse death". BBC Sport. 22 September 2014.
7. "JS Kabylie win appeal against ban imposed after death of Ebosse". BBC Sport. 11 February 2015.
8. "Gambia suspended from all competitions for two years". Cafonline.com. 3 May 2014.
9. "The Gambia disqualified from all Caf competitions". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014.
10. "Gambia banned for 2 years for age cheating". newsobserver.com. 3 May 2014.
11. "Caf lifts suspension on The Gambia following elections". BBC Sport. 30 September 2014.
12. "CAF Full Calendar". CAFonline.com. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
13. "Draws made for 2015 Orange Champions League, Confederations Cup". CAF. 22 December 2014.
14. "Twitter @CAF_Online". CAF. 30 April 2015.
15. "19th Edition of CAF Champions League CL 2015" (PDF). CAF.
16. "CAF Clubs Competitions across Africa, Hearts in Action whilst Kotoko gets a walkover". SpyGhana. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
17. "Live report: CAF Interclubs draw". CAFonline.com. 5 May 2015.
18. "Algerian trio drawn together". CAFonline.com. 5 May 2015.
19. "Mazembe, Setif top seeds in CAFCL Group stage draw". Confederation of African Football. 4 May 2015.

External links

• Orange CAF Champions League 2015, CAFonline.com