2018 CAF Champions League final

2018 CAF Champions League Final

7 November Stadium hosted the podium where ES Tunis lifted the trophy
Event	2018 CAF Champions League
Al Ahly Espérance de Tunis 3 4
on aggregate
First leg
Al Ahly Espérance de Tunis 3 1
Date	2 November 2018 (2018-11-02)
Venue	Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee	Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria)
Attendance	60,000
Weather	Partly Cloudy 23 °C (73 °F)
Second leg
Espérance de Tunis Al Ahly 3 0
Date	9 November 2018 (2018-11-09)
Venue	Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis
Referee	Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)
Attendance	60,000
← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 CAF Champions League Final was the final of the 2018 CAF Champions League, the 54th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 22nd edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Al Ahly from Egypt and Espérance de Tunis from Tunisia. The first leg was hosted by Al-Ahly on 2 November 2018, while the second leg was hosted by Espérance de Tunis at the Stade Olympique de Radès in Radès on 9 November 2018.

Espérance de Tunis won the final 4–3 on aggregate for their third CAF Champions League title. ^{[1] [2]} As winners, they earned the right to represent the CAF at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the second round, as well as play in the 2019 CAF Super Cup against the winner of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup. ^[3]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 1996 were in the African Cup of Champions Club era, since 1997 were in the CAF Champions League era.

Team	Zone	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al Ahly	UNAF (North Africa)	11 ( 1982 , 1983, 1987 , 2001 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007, 2008 , 2012 , 2013 , 2017)
Espérance de Tunis	UNAF (North Africa)	6 ( 1994 , 1999, 2000, 2010, 2011 , 2012)

Background

Al-Ahly are the most successful club in Egypt and Africa with eight titles, winning eight (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013) and losing three (1983, 2007, 2017). Al-Ahly were playing their twelfth and second consecutive final. ^[4]

Espérance de Tunis had reached the final six times before, more than any other Tunisian side, winning two (1994, 2011) and losing four (1999, 2000, 2010, 2012). Espérance de Tunis were playing their seventh final and the first since 2012. ^[4]

The two sides had previously played 18 matches in African competitions. The first meetings between the two sides took place in the 1990 African Cup of Champions Clubs round of 16, where Espérance de Tunis beat Al-Ahly on penalties after the home and away matches ended 0–0. The most recent meetings between the clubs had taken place in the 2018 CAF Champions League group stage, where Al-Ahly's home match ended 0–0, and then Espérance de Tunis lost 0–1 at home to Al-Ahly on a Walid Azaro goal. ^[5]

Venues

Borg El Arab Stadium

Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria, Egypt hosted the first leg.

The Borg El Arab Stadium is a stadium commissioned in 2006 in the Mediterranean Sea resort of Borg El Arab; 25 km west of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the largest stadium in Egypt and the second largest in Africa (after FNB Stadium in Johannesburg) with a capacity of 86,000 ^[6] and is an all-seater. It is also the 27th largest stadium in the world, and the 9th largest association football stadium in the world. It is located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway 10 km from Borg El Arab Airport and 15 km from Alexandria's city centre. A running track runs around the pitch, and the ground has four large floodlights. Only one stand is covered by a roof.

The stadium is 145 feddans, is surrounded by a fence which is 3 km long, an internal road network its long is 6 km, a parking lot which could fit 5000 cars and 200 bus beside an airstrip, there are 136 electronic entrances. The main cabin is covered by an umbrella which covers 35% of the stadium total area, and it is considered the biggest umbrella in the Middle East. Its length is 200 m, its dimension is 60 m and its area is 12,000 m², which is equal to 3 feddans.

The stadium is air-conditioned and that condition includes the clothes chambers, the salons and entrances, also the stadium includes 8 elevators for broadcasters, handicapped, services and important persons. There are 2 sub-stadiums for training and each ground can hold 2000 spectators, includes 2 locker rooms and a stadium for Athletics. The stadium also includes a hotel for 200 guests which is air-conditioned and has a swimming pool, gym and a department building which contains 80 people. The stadium includes a building which contains 300 presses. This building includes cabinets for broadcasters, entrances for emergency, ambulance cars, 39 and cafeterias, 337 bathrooms which classified to 33 bathrooms for women and 8 bathrooms for the handicapped.

Stade Olympique de Radès

Stade Olympique de Radès in Radès, Tunisia hosted the second leg.

The Stade Olympique de Radès is a multi-purpose stadium in Radès, Tunisia about 10 kilometers south-east of the city center of Tunis, in the center of the Olympic City. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has facilities for athletics. The stadium holds 60,000 and was built in 2001 for the 2001 Mediterranean Games and is considered to be one of the best stadiums in Africa. The stadium was built for the 2001 Mediterranean Games, the 60,000-seat covered area covers 13,000 m2 and consists of a central area, 3 adjoining grounds, 2 warm-up rooms, 2 paintings and an official stand of 7,000 seats. The press gallery is equipped with 300 desks.

Road to the final

Further information: 2018 CAF Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Al Ahly				Round	Espérance de Tunis
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Qualifying rounds	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Bye				Preliminary round	ASAC Concorde	6–1	1–1 (A)	5–0 (H)
CF Mounana	7–1	4–0 (H)	3–1 (A)	First round	Gor Mahia	1–0	0–0 (A)	1–0 (H)
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Espérance de Tunis	0–0 (H)			Matchday 1	Al Ahly	0–0 (A)
KCCA	0–2 (A)			Matchday 2	Township Rollers	4–1 (H)
Township Rollers	3–0 (H)			Matchday 3	KCCA	3–2 (H)
Township Rollers	1–0 (A)			Matchday 4	KCCA	1–0 (A)
Espérance de Tunis	1–0 (A)			Matchday 5	Al Ahly	0–1 (H)
KCCA	4–3 (H)			Matchday 6	Township Rollers	0–0 (A)
Group A winner Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Al Ahly 6 13 2 Espérance de Tunis 6 11 3 KCCA 6 6 4 Township Rollers 6 4 Source: CAF				Final standings	Group A runner-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Al Ahly 6 13 2 Espérance de Tunis 6 11 3 KCCA 6 6 4 Township Rollers 6 4 Source: CAF
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout stage	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Horoya	4–0	0–0 (A)	4–0 (H)	Quarter-finals	Étoile du Sahel	3–1	2–1 (H)	1–0 (A)
ES Sétif	3–2	2–0 (H)	1–2 (A)	Semi-finals	1º de Agosto	4–3	0–1 (A)	4–2 (H)

Format

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs determined by the knockout stage draw, which was held on 3 September 2018, 20:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner. ^[3]

Matches

First leg

2 November 2018 (2018-11-02)

21:00  UTC+2

Al Ahly	3–1	Espérance de Tunis
Soliman 34' (pen.), 77' (pen.) El Solia 58'	Report	Belaïli 64' (pen.)

Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria)

Al-Ahly

Espérance de Tunis

GK 16 Mohamed El Shenawy RB 24 Ahmed Fathy  22' CB 20 Saad Samir  49' CB 3 Salif Coulibaly LB 12 Ayman Ashraf RM 17 Ahmed Hamoudi  67' CM 25 Hossam Ashour (c) CM 14 Amr El Solia LM 5 Islam Mohareb AM 11 Walid Soliman CF 9 Walid Azaro Substitutes: GK 1 Sherif Ekramy DF 6 Sabri Raheel DF 30 Mohamed Hany  87'  22' MF 2 Karim Walid MF 27 Mohamed Gaber  67' FW 18 Marwan Mohsen FW 29 Salah Mohsen Manager: Patrice Carteron

GK 1 Moez Ben Cherifia RB 22 Sameh Derbali  81' CB 5 Chamseddine Dhaouadi  18' CB 12 Khalil Chemmam (c) LB 26 Houcine Rabii CM 15 Fousseny Coulibaly CM 30 Franck Kom  83' CM 25 Ghailene Chaalali RW 8 Anice Badri CF 29 Taha Yassine Khenissi  80' LW 11 Youcef Belaïli Substitutes: GK 19 Rami Jridi DF 2 Ali Machani DF 24 Iheb Mbarki DF 27 Mohamed Ali Yacoubi MF 18 Saad Bguir MF 28 Mohamed Amine Meskini FW 9 Bilel Mejri  80' Manager: Moïne Chaâbani

Assistant referees: [10] Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria) Jean Claude Birumushahu (Burundi) Fourth official: Eric Otogo-Castane (Gabon) Video assistant referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia) Assistant video assistant referees: El Hadji Samba (Senegal) Djibril Camara (Senegal)

Match rules [3] 90 minutes. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics

First half [11] Statistic Al-Ahly Espérance de Tunis Goals scored 1 0 Total shots 4 6 Shots on target 2 2 Passes 168 118 Ball possession 59% 41%

Second half [11] Statistic Al-Ahly Espérance de Tunis Goals scored 2 1 Total shots 5 5 Shots on target 2 1 Passes 80 112 Ball possession 42% 58%

Overall Statistic Al-Ahly Espérance de Tunis Goals scored 3 1 Total shots 9 11 Shots on target 5 5 Passes 248 230 Ball possession 52% 48%

Second leg

9 November 2018 (2018-11-09)

20:00  UTC+1

Espérance de Tunis	3–0	Al Ahly
Bguir 45+1', 54' Badri 86'	Report

Stade Olympique de Radès, Tunis

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)

Espérance de Tunis

Al-Ahly

GK 1 Moez Ben Cherifia  89' RB 22 Sameh Derbali CB 27 Mohamed Ali Yacoubi CB 12 Khalil Chemmam (c) LB 20 Ayman Ben Mohamed CM 15 Fousseny Coulibaly  25' CM 25 Ghailene Chaalali RW 8 Anice Badri AM 18 Saad Bguir  62' LW 11 Youcef Belaïli  80' CF 29 Taha Yassine Khenissi  69' Substitutes: GK 19 Rami Jridi DF 2 Ali Machani DF 24 Iheb Mbarki DF 26 Houcine Rabii  62' MF 28 Mohamed Amine Meskini  80' FW 9 Bilel Mejri  90+2'  69' FW 14 Haythem Jouini Manager: Moïne Chaâbani

GK 16 Mohamed El Shenawy RB 30 Mohamed Hany  62' CB 20 Saad Samir CB 3 Salif Coulibaly LB 12 Ayman Ashraf CM 25 Hossam Ashour (c) CM 14 Amr El Solia  75' RW 11 Walid Soliman  25' AM 27 Mohamed Gaber  62' LW 5 Islam Mohareb CF 18 Marwan Mohsen Substitutes: GK 1 Sherif Ekramy DF 6 Sabri Raheel MF 2 Karim Walid  62' MF 10 Nasser Maher MF 17 Ahmed Hamoudi  75' MF 22 Akram Tawfik FW 29 Salah Mohsen  62' Manager: Patrice Carteron

Assistant referees: [12] Zakhele Thusi Siwela (South Africa) Waleed Ahmed Ali (Sudan) Fourth official: Eric Otogo-Castane (Gabon) Video assistant referee: [13] Bakary Gassama (Gambia) Assistant video assistant referees: El Hadji Samba (Senegal) Djibril Camara (Senegal)

Match rules [3] 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if tied on aggregate and away goals. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Statistics

First half [11] Statistic Espérance de Tunis Al-Ahly Goals scored 1 0 Total shots 8 0 Shots on target 2 0 Passes 265 110 Ball possession 70% 30%

Second half [11] Statistic Espérance de Tunis Al-Ahly Goals scored 2 0 Total shots 5 1 Shots on target 3 0 Passes 182 175 Ball possession 50% 50%

Overall Statistic Espérance de Tunis Al-Ahly Goals scored 3 0 Total shots 13 1 Shots on target 5 0 Passes 447 285 Ball possession 60% 40%

See also

• 2018 CAF Confederation Cup Final
• 2019 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "Soliman slots VAR penalties to give Ahly Champions League final edge". CAF. 5 November 2018.
2. "Bguir unlikely star as Esperance win CAF Champions League". CAF. 9 November 2018.
3. "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
4. "12th final for Ahly, 7th for Esperance". CAF. 31 October 2018.
5. "Ahly v Esperance: Head to Head Results". CAF. 31 October 2018.
6. "The boys are ready", Al-Ahram Weekly , Al-Ahram Publishing House, no. 965, 17–23 September 2009, archived from the original on 10 October 2010, retrieved 6 June 2010
7. "Draw Procedure of the 22nd Edition of Total CAF Champions League, CL 2018" (PDF). CAF. 2 September 2018.
8. "CAF Champions League 2018 DRAW". YouTube. 3 September 2018.
9. "Total CAF Champions League 2018 Draw". CAF.
10. @CAF_Online (1 November 2018). "Here are the Referees of #TotalCAFCLfinal 1st leg between @AlAhly Vs @EsperanceST" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
11. "Al Ahly vs Espérance Tunis live score, H2H and lineups | SofaScore".
12. "22nd Edition of Total CAF Champions League: Media start list" (PDF). CAFonline.com. Confederation of African Football. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
13. "FIFA Referees News: 2018 CAF Champions League - Final". 9 November 2018.

External links

• Total Champions League 2018, CAFonline.com