2018 CAF Champions League group stage

The 2018 CAF Champions League group stage was played from 4 May to 28 August 2018.[1] A total of 16 teams competed in the group stage to decide the eight places in the knockout stage of the 2018 CAF Champions League.[2]

2018 CAF Champions League group stage
Dates4 May – 28 August 2018
Tournament statistics
Matches played48
Goals scored102 (2.13 per match)
2017

Draw edit

The draw for the group stage was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 EET (UTC+2), at the Ritz Carlton in Cairo, Egypt.[3][4] 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).[5] 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.[6]

Pot Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
Teams

Format edit

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 edit

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]

  1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
  5. 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;
  6. Goal difference in all group matches;
  7. Goals scored in all group matches;
  8. Away goals scored in all group matches;
  9. Drawing of lots.

Schedule edit

The schedule of each matchday was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in italics).[1][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]

Matchday Dates Matches
Matchday 1 4–5 May 2018 Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 3
Matchday 2 15 May 2018 Team 3 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 2
Matchday 3 17 July 2018 Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 1 vs. Team 2
Matchday 4 27–28 July 2018 Team 3 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 1
Matchday 5 17–18 August 2018 Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 2
Matchday 6 28 August 2018 Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 4

Groups edit

Group A edit

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
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Al-Ahly  0–0  Espérance de Tunis
Report
Township Rollers  1–0  KCCA
Report

KCCA  2–0  Al-Ahly
Report
Espérance de Tunis  4–1  Township Rollers
Report

Espérance de Tunis  3–2  KCCA
Report
Al-Ahly  3–0  Township Rollers
Report

KCCA  0–1  Espérance de Tunis
Report
Township Rollers  0–1  Al-Ahly
Report

Espérance de Tunis  0–1  Al-Ahly
Report
KCCA  1–0  Township Rollers
Report

Al-Ahly  4–3  KCCA
Report

Group B edit

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
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
MC Alger  1–1  Difaâ El Jadidi
Report
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Sadok Selmi (Tunisia)
TP Mazembe  4–1  ES Sétif
Report

Difaâ El Jadidi  0–2  TP Mazembe
Report
Attendance: 12,000
ES Sétif  0–1  MC Alger
Report
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

TP Mazembe  1–0  MC Alger
Report
ES Sétif  2–1  Difaâ El Jadidi
Report

Difaâ El Jadidi  1–1  ES Sétif
Report
MC Alger  1–1  TP Mazembe
Report

ES Sétif  1–1  TP Mazembe
Report
Difaâ El Jadidi  2–0  MC Alger
Report

TP Mazembe  1–1  Difaâ El Jadidi
Report
MC Alger  1–2  ES Sétif
Report

Group C edit

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
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
AS Togo-Port  1–2  Horoya
Report

Wydad AC  3–0  AS Togo-Port
Report
Horoya  2–2  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report

AS Togo-Port  1–0  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Horoya  1–1  Wydad AC
Report

Wydad AC  2–0  Horoya
Report

Horoya  2–1  AS Togo-Port
Report
Wydad AC  1–0  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report

Group D edit

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
Source: CAF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
ZESCO United  1–1  Mbabane Swallows
Report
1º de Agosto  1–1  Étoile du Sahel
Report

Étoile du Sahel  2–1  ZESCO United
Report

Mbabane Swallows  0–3  Étoile du Sahel
Report

1º de Agosto  2–1  ZESCO United
Report

Mbabane Swallows  0–3  ZESCO United
Report

ZESCO United  1–1  Étoile du Sahel
Report
1º de Agosto  2–1  Mbabane Swallows
Report

Notes edit

  1. ^ MC Alger played their home match against TP Mazembe at Mustapha Tchaker Stadium, Blida, instead of their regular stadium July 5, 1962 Stadium, Algiers, as it was used for athletics at the 2018 African Youth Games.[9]
  2. ^ The Horoya v Mamelodi Sundowns match was originally scheduled to be played on 15 May 2018, 16:00 local time, but was re-scheduled to 22 May 2018, 16:00 local time, following an agreement between the two clubs to avoid a clash with a friendly match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Barcelona.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "DATES FOR CAF INTERCLUBS COMPETITIONS 2018" (PDF). CAF.
  2. ^ a b "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
  3. ^ "Draw for the Champions League & Confederation Cup 2018". YouTube. 21 March 2018.
  4. ^ "Results of Group Phase draw". CAF. 21 March 2018.
  5. ^ "Ranking of the clubs qualified to the Group Stage of Total CAF Champions League 2018" (PDF). CAF.
  6. ^ "Draw Procedures for Interclubs Group Phase". CAF. 20 March 2018.
  7. ^ "Group Phase Fixtures" (PDF). CAF.
  8. ^ "Friday & Saturday for Champions League, Sunday for Confederation Cup". CAF. 17 April 2018.
  9. ^ "CAF : MCA et USMA à Tchaker les 28 et 29 juillet". dzfoot.com. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  10. ^ "Horoya – Mamelodi Sundowns Match Day Two rescheduled for May 22". CAF. 8 May 2018.

External links edit