2018 CAF Champions League

2018 CAF Champions League

2018 Total CAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates	10 February – 9 November 2018
Teams	59 (from 47 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Espérance de Tunis (3rd title)
Runners-up	Al Ahly
Tournament statistics
Matches played	146
Goals scored	351 (2.4 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Walid Soliman (8 goals)
← 2017 2018–19 →

The 2018 CAF Champions League (officially the 2018 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) ^[1] was 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.

Espérance de Tunis won the title for the third time, defeating Al Ahly in the final, and qualified as the CAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup, Raja Casablanca, in the 2019 CAF Super Cup. ^[2]

Wydad AC were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by ES Sétif.

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. ^[2] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.

For the 2018 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2012–2016 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
Winners	5 points	4 points
Runners-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:

• 2016 – 5
• 2015 – 4
• 2014 – 3
• 2013 – 2
• 2012 – 1

Teams

The following 59 teams from 47 associations entered the competition: ^[4]

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

This was the second highest number of teams in the history of CAF Champions League. The highest number was recorded in 2007 where 60 teams entered.^{[ citation needed ]}

Associations are shown according to their 2012–2016 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.

Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)

Association	Team	Qualifying method
Egypt (1st – 85 pts)	Al-Ahly	2016–17 Egyptian Premier League champions
	Misr Lel-Makkasa	2016–17 Egyptian Premier League runners-up
Tunisia (2nd – 76 pts)	Espérance de Tunis	2016–17 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
	Étoile du Sahel	2016–17 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
DR Congo (3rd – 70 pts)	TP Mazembe	2016–17 Linafoot champions
	AS Vita Club	2016–17 Linafoot runners-up
Algeria (4th – 62 pts)	ES Sétif	2016–17 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
	MC Alger	2016–17 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
South Africa (5th – 45 pts)	Bidvest Wits	2016–17 South African Premier Division champions
	Mamelodi Sundowns	2016–17 South African Premier Division runners-up
Morocco (6th – 41 pts)	Wydad AC	Title holders (2017 CAF Champions League winners) 2016–17 Botola champions
	Difaâ El Jadidi	2016–17 Botola runners-up
Sudan (7th – 35 pts)	Al-Hilal	2017 Sudan Premier League champions
	Al-Merrikh	2017 Sudan Premier League runners-up
Ivory Coast (8th – 21 pts)	ASEC Mimosas	2016–17 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions
	Williamsville AC	2016–17 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 runners-up
Zambia (9th – 18 pts)	ZESCO United	2017 Zambia Super League champions
	Zanaco	2017 Zambia Super League runners-up
Congo (10th – 16 pts)	AC Léopards	2017 Congo Ligue 1 champions
	AS Otohô	2017 Congo Ligue 1 runners-up
Mali (11th – 15 pts)	Stade Malien	2016 Malian Première Division champions [Note MLI]
	AS Real Bamako	2016 Malian Première Division runners-up [Note MLI]
Nigeria (12th – 13 pts)	Plateau United	2017 Nigeria Professional Football League champions
	MFM	2017 Nigeria Professional Football League runners-up

Associations eligible to enter one team

Association	Team	Qualifying method
Cameroon (13th – 12 pts)	Eding Sport	2017 Elite One champions
Libya (14th – 8 pts)	Al-Tahaddy	2017 Libyan Premier League CAF competition playoff winners
Ghana (15th – 7 pts)	Aduana Stars	2017 Ghanaian Premier League champions
Tanzania (16th – 5 pts)	Young Africans	2016–17 Tanzanian Premier League champions
Angola (17th – 3 pts)	1º de Agosto	2017 Girabola champions
Ethiopia (18th – 2 pts)	Saint George	2016–17 Ethiopian Premier League champions
Benin	Buffles du Borgou	2017 Benin Premier League champions
Botswana	Township Rollers	2016–17 Botswana Premier League champions
Burkina Faso	Rail Club du Kadiogo	2016–17 Burkinabé Premier League champions
Burundi	LLB Académic FC	2016–17 Burundi Premier League champions
Central African Republic	Olympic Real de Bangui	2016–17 Central African Republic League champions
Comoros	Ngaya Club	2017 Comoros Premier League champions
Equatorial Guinea	Leones Vegetarianos	2017 Equatoguinean Primera División champions
Gabon	CF Mounana	2016–17 Gabon Championnat National D1 champions
Gambia	Armed Forces	2016–17 GFA League First Division champions
Guinea	Horoya	2016–17 Guinée Championnat National champions
Guinea-Bissau	Sport Bissau e Benfica	2016–17 Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau champions
Kenya	Gor Mahia	2017 Kenyan Premier League champions
Lesotho	Bantu	2016–17 Lesotho Premier League champions
Liberia	LISCR	2016–17 Liberian First Division League champions
Madagascar	CNaPS Sport	2017 THB Champions League champions
Malawi	Mighty Wanderers	2017 Malawi Premier Division leaders at entry deadline
Mauritania	ASAC Concorde	2016–17 Ligue 1 Mauritania champions
Mauritius	Pamplemousses	2016–17 Mauritian Premier League champions
Mozambique	UD Songo	2017 Moçambola champions
Niger	AS FAN	2016–17 Niger Premier League champions
Rwanda	Rayon Sports	2016–17 Rwanda National Football League champions
Senegal	Génération Foot	2016–17 Senegal Premier League champions
Seychelles	Saint Louis Suns United	2017 Seychelles First Division champions
South Sudan	Al-Salam Wau	2017 South Sudan Football Championship champions
Swaziland	Mbabane Swallows	2016–17 Swazi Premier League champions
Togo	AS Togo-Port	2016–17 Togolese Championnat National champions
Uganda	KCCA	2016–17 Uganda Super League champions
Zanzibar	JKU	2016–17 Zanzibar Premier League champions
Zimbabwe	FC Platinum	2017 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League champions

Notes

1. ^
   Mali (MLI): Mali were represented by Stade Malien and AS Real Bamako, the 2016 Malian Première Division champions and runners-up, as the 2017 Malian Première Division was not completed by the end of the year. ^[5]

Associations which did not enter a team

• Cape Verde
• Chad
• Djibouti
• Eritrea
• Namibia
• Réunion
• São Tomé and Príncipe
• Sierra Leone
• Somalia

Al-Ahly

Misr Lel-Makkasa

Espérance de Tunis

Étoile du Sahel

Mazembe

Vita Club

ES Sétif

MC Alger

Gauteng

Wydad

Difaâ El Jadidi

Omdurman

Abidjan

ZESCO U

Zanaco

Léopards

Otohô

Bamako

Plateau U

MFM

Eding S

Al-Tahaddy

Aduana S

Young Africans

1º de Agosto

Saint George

Buffles

Township Rollers

Rail Kadiogo

LLB Académic

Real Bangui

Ngaya Club

Leones Vegetarianos

Mounana

Armed Forces

Horoya

Benfica Bissau

Gor Mahia

Bantu

LISCR

CNaPS Sport

Mighty Wanderers

ASAC Concorde

Pamplemousses

Songo

FAN

Rayon Sports

Génération Foot

St. Louis Suns U

Al-Salam Wau

Mbabane Swallows

Togo-Port

KCCA

JKU

Platinum

Abidjan teams
ASEC Mimosas
Williamsville

Bamako teams
Stade Malien
Real Bamako

Gauteng teams
Bidvest Wits
Mamelodi Sundowns

Omdurman teams
Al-Hilal
Al-Merrikh

class=notpageimage|

Location of teams of the 2018 CAF Champions League.
Red: Preliminary round; Green: First Round;
Brown: Group A; Orange: Group B; Yellow: Group C; Blue: Group D.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics). ^[6] The regulations were modified with an additional draw before the quarter-finals. ^[7] Effective from the Champions League group stage, weekend matches were played on Fridays and Saturdays while midweek matches were played on Tuesdays, with some exceptions. Kick-off times were also fixed at 13:00 (Saturdays and Tuesdays only), 16:00 and 19:00 GMT. ^[8]

Phase	Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Qualifying	Preliminary round	13 December 2017 (Cairo, Egypt) [4]	9–11 February 2018	20–21 February 2018
	First round		6–7 March 2018	16–18 March 2018
Group stage	Matchday 1	21 March 2018 (Cairo, Egypt) [9]	4–5 May 2018
	Matchday 2		15 May 2018
	Matchday 3		17 July 2018
	Matchday 4		27–28 July 2018
	Matchday 5		17–18 August 2018
	Matchday 6		28 August 2018
Knockout stage	Quarter-finals	3 September 2018 (Cairo, Egypt) [10]	14–15 September 2018	21–22 September 2018
	Semi-finals		2 October 2018	23 October 2018
	Final		2 November 2018	9 November 2018

Qualifying rounds

Main article: 2018 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 13 December 2017 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. ^{[11] [12]} In the qualifying rounds, each tie was 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 tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14). ^[2]

Preliminary round

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Saint George	w/o [w/o 1]	Al-Salam Wau	—	—
CNaPS Sport	2–2 (a)	KCCA	2–1	0–1
Zanaco	6–1	Armed Forces	3–0	3–1
Bantu	5–5 (a)	Mbabane Swallows	2–4	3–1
Stade Malien	1–2	Williamsville AC	1–1	0–1
Al-Tahaddy	1–2	Aduana Stars	1–0	0–2
ES Sétif	6–0	Olympic Real de Bangui	6–0	0–0
Rail Club du Kadiogo	1–2	CF Mounana	1–0	0–2
AS Real Bamako	1–2	MFM	1–1	0–1
AS Otôho	2–9	MC Alger	2–0	0–9
AS FAN	1–3	Horoya	1–3	0–0
Génération Foot	2–0	Misr Lel-Makkasa	2–0	0–0
Young Africans	2–1	Saint Louis Suns United	1–0	1–1
Township Rollers	4–2	Al-Merrikh	3–0	1–2
Gor Mahia	3–1	Leones Vegetarianos	2–0	1–1
ASAC Concorde	1–6	Espérance de Tunis	1–1	0–5
Plateau United	4–0	Eding Sport	3–0	1–0
AC Léopards	3–3 (3–4 p)	AS Togo-Port	2–1	1–2
LISCR	1–3	Al-Hilal	1–0	0–3
JKU	0–7	ZESCO United	0–0	0–7
Buffles du Borgou	3–4	ASEC Mimosas	1–1	2–3
Ngaya Club	1–3	UD Songo	1–1	0–2
Difaâ El Jadidi	10–0	Sport Bissau e Benfica	10–0	0–0
AS Vita Club	6–1	Mighty Wanderers	4–0	2–1
1º de Agosto	5–1	FC Platinum	3–0	2–1
Bidvest Wits	2–1	Pamplemousses	2–0	0–1
Rayon Sports	2–1	LLB Académic FC	1–1	1–0

Notes:

1. Saint George won on walkover after Al-Salam Wau failed to arrive for the first leg. ^[13]

First round

The 16 winners of the first round advanced to the group stage, while the 16 losers of the first round entered the Confederation Cup play-off round.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Saint George	0–1	KCCA	0–0	0–1
Zanaco	1–3	Mbabane Swallows	1–2	0–1
Wydad AC	7–4	Williamsville AC	7–2	0–2
Aduana Stars	1–4	ES Sétif	1–0	0–4
Al-Ahly	7–1	CF Mounana	4–0	3–1
MFM	2–7	MC Alger	2–1	0–6
Horoya	4–1	Génération Foot	2–1	2–0
Young Africans	1–2	Township Rollers	1–2	0–0
Gor Mahia	0–1	Espérance de Tunis	0–0	0–1
Étoile du Sahel	4–3	Plateau United	4–2	0–1
AS Togo-Port	3–3 (a)	Al-Hilal	2–0	1–3
ZESCO United	2–2 (a)	ASEC Mimosas	0–1	2–1
TP Mazembe	4–3	UD Songo	4–0	0–3
Difaâ El Jadidi	3–2	AS Vita Club	1–0	2–2
1º de Agosto	1–1 (3–2 p)	Bidvest Wits	1–0	0–1
Rayon Sports	0–2	Mamelodi Sundowns	0–0	0–2

Group stage

Main article: 2018 CAF Champions League group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 EET (UTC+2), at the Ritz Carlton in Cairo, Egypt. ^{[14] [15]} The 16 teams, all winners of the first round of qualifying, were drawn into four groups of four. The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-year ranking points shown in parentheses). ^[16] Each group contained one team from each of Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3, and Pot 4, and each team was drawn into one of the positions in their group. ^[17]

Pot	Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4
Teams	TP Mazembe (75 pts) Al Ahly (58 pts) Étoile du Sahel (49 pts) Wydad AC (46 pts)	Mamelodi Sundowns (39 pts) ZESCO United (26 pts) Espérance de Tunis (24.5 pts) ES Sétif (18.5 pts)	MC Alger (10 pts) KCCA (5 pts) Horoya (5 pts) Mbabane Swallows (5 pts)	1º de Agosto Township Rollers Difaâ El Jadidi AS Togo-Port

In the group stage, each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the quarter-finals of the knockout stage.

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 were applied in the following order (Regulations III. 20 & 21): [2] Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams; If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams; Goal difference in all group matches; Goals scored in all group matches; Away goals scored in all group matches; Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AHL	EST	KCC	ROL
1	Al Ahly	6	4	1	1	9	5	+4	13	Quarter-finals		—	0–0	4–3	3–0
2	Espérance de Tunis	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	11			0–1	—	3–2	4–1
3	KCCA	6	2	0	4	8	9	−1	6			2–0	0–1	—	1–0
4	Township Rollers	6	1	1	4	2	9	−7	4			0–1	0–0	1–0	—

Source: CAF

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		TPM	ESS	DHJ	MCA
1	TP Mazembe	6	3	3	0	10	4	+6	12	Quarter-finals		—	4–1	1–1	1–0
2	ES Sétif	6	2	2	2	7	9	−2	8			1–1	—	2–1	0–1
3	Difaâ El Jadidi	6	1	3	2	6	7	−1	6			0–2	1–1	—	2–0
4	MC Alger	6	1	2	3	4	7	−3	5			1–1	1–2	1–1	—

Source: CAF

Group C

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		WAC	HOR	MSD	TGP
1	Wydad AC	6	3	3	0	8	2	+6	12	Quarter-finals		—	2–0	1–0	3–0
2	Horoya	6	2	3	1	7	7	0	9			1–1	—	2–2	2–1
3	Mamelodi Sundowns	6	1	3	2	5	6	−1	6			1–1	0–0	—	2–1
4	AS Togo-Port	6	1	1	4	4	9	−5	4			0–0	1–2	1–0	—

Source: CAF

Group D

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ESS	AGO	ZES	MBS
1	Étoile du Sahel	6	3	3	0	10	4	+6	12	Quarter-finals		—	1–1	2–1	2–0
2	1º de Agosto	6	2	3	1	6	5	+1	9			1–1	—	2–1	2–1
3	ZESCO United	6	1	3	2	7	6	+1	6			1–1	0–0	—	1–1
4	Mbabane Swallows	6	1	1	4	3	11	−8	4			0–3	1–0	0–3	—

Source: CAF

Knockout stage

Main article: 2018 CAF Champions League knockout stage

In the knockout stage, the eight teams played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was 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 tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 26 & 27). ^[2]

Bracket

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals and semi-finals), which was held on 3 September 2018, 20:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. ^{[18] [19] [20]}

	Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Horoya	0	0	0
	Al Ahly	0	4	4
							Al Ahly	2	1	3
							ES Sétif	0	2	2
	ES Sétif	1	0	1
	Wydad AC	0	0	0
													Al Ahly	3	0	3
													Espérance de Tunis	1	3	4
	1º de Agosto	0	1	1 (a)
	TP Mazembe	0	1	1(a)
							1º de Agosto	1	2	3
							Espérance de Tunis	0	4	4
	Espérance de Tunis	2	1	3
	Étoile du Sahel	1	0	1

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group (teams from same group could not play each other), with the group winners hosting the second leg, and the matchups decided by draw. ^[18]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
1º de Agosto	1–1 (a)	TP Mazembe	0–0	1–1
Espérance de Tunis	3–1	Étoile du Sahel	2–1	1–0
ES Sétif	1–0	Wydad AC	1–0	0–0
Horoya	0–4	Al Ahly	0–0	0–4

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw. ^[18]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Ahly	3–2	ES Sétif	2–0	1–2
1º de Agosto	3–4	Espérance de Tunis	1–0	2–4

Final

Main article: 2018 CAF Champions League Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs determined by the semi-final draw. ^[18]

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)

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 won 4–3 on aggregate.

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated / inactive for this round.

Rank	Player	Team	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	F1	F2	Total
1	Anice Badri	Espérance de Tunis		2	1							1		1	5
	Lazarous Kambole	ZESCO United		1			3	1
	Walid Soliman	Al Ahly								1	1	1	2
4	Walid Azaro	Al Ahly			1		1	2							4
	Ben Malango	TP Mazembe	2	1				1
6	Youcef Belaïli	Espérance de Tunis		1								1	1		3
	Lompala Bokamba	1º de Agosto	1							1		1
	El Habib Bouguelmouna	ES Sétif			1	1		1
	Saad Bguir	Espérance de Tunis			1									2
	Meschak Elia	TP Mazembe	1		1	1
	Geraldo	1º de Agosto				1		1				1
	Ocansey Mandela	Horoya		1	1		1
	Islam Mohareb	Al Ahly			1					1	1

Prize money

In 2018, the fixed amount of prize money paid to the clubs is as follows: ^[21]

Final position	Prize money
Champion	US$2.5 million
Runner-up	US$1.25 million
Semi-finalists	US$800,000
Quarter-finalists	US$650,000
3rd in group stage	US$550,000
4th in group stage	US$550,000

Note: National associations receive an additional equivalent share of 5% for each amount awarded to clubs.

See also

• 2018 CAF Confederation Cup
• 2018 FIFA Club World Cup
• 2019 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
2. "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
3. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
4. "Zambia will have two entrants in both Caf Club competitions". BBC Sport. 9 December 2017.
5. "Compétitions Africaines: Le Stade en Ligue des champions, le Djoliba en Coupe CAF". footmali.com. 29 November 2017.
6. "DATES FOR CAF INTERCLUBS COMPETITIONS 2018" (PDF). CAF.
7. "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 10 January 2018". CAF. 10 January 2018.
8. "Friday & Saturday for Champions League, Sunday for Confederation Cup". CAF. 17 April 2018.
9. "Accreditation for interclubs group phase draw". CAF. 28 February 2018.
10. "Accreditation for Interclubs quarter finals 2018". CAF. 6 August 2018.
11. "Draw results of Interclubs 2018 prelims". CAF. 13 December 2017.
12. "Results of the draw: Total CAF Champions League 2018" (PDF). CAF.
13. "South Sudanese clubs Al Salam Wau, Hilal Juba eliminated". CAF. 15 February 2018.
14. "Draw for the Champions League & Confederation Cup 2018". YouTube. 21 March 2018.
15. "Results of Group Phase draw". CAF. 21 March 2018.
16. "Ranking of the clubs qualified to the Group Stage of Total CAF Champions League 2018" (PDF). CAF.
17. "Draw Procedures for Interclubs Group Phase". CAF. 20 March 2018.
18. "Draw Procedure of the 22nd Edition of Total CAF Champions League, CL 2018" (PDF). CAF. 2 September 2018.
19. "CAF Champions League 2018 DRAW". YouTube. 3 September 2018.
20. "Total CAF Champions League 2018 Draw". CAF.
21. "CAF Executive Committee decisions". cafonline.com. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-02-12.

External links

• 22nd Edition Of Total CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com