2018 CAF Champions League
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.
| 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) |
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.
Associations are shown according to their 2012–2016 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
- Notes
- ^ 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
ASEC Mimosas WilliamsvilleBamako teams
Stade Malien Real BamakoGauteng teams
Bidvest Wits
Mamelodi SundownsOmdurman teams
Al-Hilal Al-Merrikh 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
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
Notes:
- 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.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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
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 |
|
|
|
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]
|
Group A
| Pos | Team | 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 | — |
Group B
| Pos | Team | 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 | — |
Group C
| Pos | Team | 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 | — |
Group D
| Pos | Team | 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 | — |
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 | ||||||||||||||
| 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.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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.Tooltip Aggregate score | 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
In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs determined by the semi-final draw.[18]
Espérance de Tunis won 4–3 on aggregate.
Top goalscorers
| 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.
References
- "Total, Title Sponsor of the Africa Cup of Nations and Partner of African Football". CAF. 21 July 2016.
- "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
- "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- "Zambia will have two entrants in both Caf Club competitions". BBC Sport. 9 December 2017.
- "Compétitions Africaines: Le Stade en Ligue des champions, le Djoliba en Coupe CAF". footmali.com. 29 November 2017.
- "DATES FOR CAF INTERCLUBS COMPETITIONS 2018" (PDF). CAF.
- "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee – 10 January 2018". CAF. 10 January 2018.
- "Friday & Saturday for Champions League, Sunday for Confederation Cup". CAF. 17 April 2018.
- "Accreditation for interclubs group phase draw". CAF. 28 February 2018.
- "Accreditation for Interclubs quarter finals 2018". CAF. 6 August 2018.
- "Draw results of Interclubs 2018 prelims". CAF. 13 December 2017.
- "Results of the draw: Total CAF Champions League 2018" (PDF). CAF.
- "South Sudanese clubs Al Salam Wau, Hilal Juba eliminated". CAF. 15 February 2018.
- "Draw for the Champions League & Confederation Cup 2018". YouTube. 21 March 2018.
- "Results of Group Phase draw". CAF. 21 March 2018.
- "Ranking of the clubs qualified to the Group Stage of Total CAF Champions League 2018" (PDF). CAF.
- "Draw Procedures for Interclubs Group Phase". CAF. 20 March 2018.
- "Draw Procedure of the 22nd Edition of Total CAF Champions League, CL 2018" (PDF). CAF. 2 September 2018.
- "CAF Champions League 2018 DRAW". YouTube. 3 September 2018.
- "Total CAF Champions League 2018 Draw". CAF.
- "CAF Executive Committee decisions". cafonline.com. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
External links
- 22nd Edition Of Total CAF Champions League, CAFonline.com