2020–21 CAF Champions League knockout stage

The 2020–21 CAF Champions League knockout stage started on 14 May with the quarter-finals and concluded on 17 July 2021 with the final to decide the champions of the 2020–21 CAF Champions League. A total of eight teams competed in the knockout stage.[1]

2020–21 CAF Champions League knockout stage
Dates14 May – 17 July 2021

Times are GMT as listed by CAF (local times, even if not different, are in parentheses).

Round and draw dates

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The schedule is as follows.

Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Quarter-finals 30 April 2021 14–15 May 2021 21–22 May 2021
Semi-finals 18–19 June 2021 25–26 June 2021
Final 17 July 2021

Format

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Each tie in the knockout stage, apart from the final, is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, the away goals rule is applied, i.e. the team that scores more goals away from home over the two legs advances. If away goals are also equal, then extra time is not played and the winners are decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which is played as a single match, if the score is level at the end of normal time, extra time won't also be played and the winners will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[1]

The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:

  • In the draw for the quarter-finals, the four group winners are seeded, and the four group runners-up are unseeded. The seeded teams are drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against each other, while teams from the same association can be drawn against each other.
  • In the draws for semi-finals, there are no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association can be drawn against each other. As the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals are held together before the quarter-finals are played, the identity of the quarter-final winners is not known at the time of the semi-final draw.

Qualified teams

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The knockout stage involves the 8 teams which qualify as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage.

Group Winners Runners-up
A   Simba   Al Ahly
B   Mamelodi Sundowns   CR Belouizdad
C   Wydad AC   Kaizer Chiefs
D   Espérance de Tunis   MC Alger

Bracket

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The bracket of the knockout stage is determined as follows:[1]

Round Matchups
Quarter-finals (Group winners host second leg, matchups decided by draw, teams from same group cannot play each other)
  • QF1
  • QF2
  • QF3
  • QF4
Semi-finals (Matchups and order of legs decided by draw, between winners QF1, QF2, QF3, QF4)
  • SF1
  • SF2
Final Winners SF1 and SF2 will face each other to decide the champions

The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage (quarter-finals and semi-finals), which was held on 30 April 2021, 15:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[2][3]

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
             
1   MC Alger 1 0 1
8   Wydad AC 1 1 2
  Wydad AC 0 0 0
  Kaizer Chiefs 1 0 1
4   Kaizer Chiefs 4 0 4
5   Simba 0 3 3
  Kaizer Chiefs 0
  Al Ahly 3
2   CR Belouizdad 2 0 2 (2)
7   Espérance de Tunis (p) 0 2 2 (3)
  Espérance de Tunis 0 0 0
  Al Ahly 1 3 4
3   Al Ahly 2 1 3
6   Mamelodi Sundowns 0 1 1

Quarter-finals

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The draw for the quarter-finals was held on 30 April 2021.

Summary

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The first legs were played on 14 and 15 May, and the second legs were played on 22 May 2021.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al Ahly   3–1   Mamelodi Sundowns 2–0 1–1
MC Alger   1–2   Wydad AC 1–1 0–1
CR Belouizdad   2–2 (2–3 p)   Espérance de Tunis 2–0 0–2
Kaizer Chiefs   4–3   Simba 4–0 0–3

Matches

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Al Ahly  2–0  Mamelodi Sundowns
Report
Referee: Maguette N'Diaye (Senegal)
Mamelodi Sundowns  1–1  Al Ahly
Report

Al Ahly won 3–1 on aggregate.


MC Alger  1–1  Wydad AC
Report
Wydad AC  1–0  MC Alger
Report
Referee: Joshua Bondo (Botswana)

Wydad AC won 2–1 on aggregate.


CR Belouizdad  2–0  Espérance de Tunis
Report
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)
Espérance de Tunis  2–0  CR Belouizdad
Report
Penalties
3–2

2–2 on aggregate. Espérance de Tunis won 3–2 on penalties.


Kaizer Chiefs  4–0  Simba
Report
Simba  3–0  Kaizer Chiefs
Report
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

Kaizer Chiefs won 4–3 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

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The draw for the semi-finals was held on 30 April 2021 (after the quarter-finals draw).

Summary

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The first legs were played on 19 June, and the second legs were played on 26 June 2021.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Wydad AC   0–1   Kaizer Chiefs 0–1 0–0
Espérance de Tunis   0–4   Al Ahly 0–1 0–3

Matches

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Wydad AC  0–1  Kaizer Chiefs
Report
Referee: Maguette N'Diaye (Senegal)
Kaizer Chiefs  0–0  Wydad AC
Report
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

Kaizer Chiefs won 1–0 on aggregate.


Espérance de Tunis  0–1  Al Ahly
Report
Al Ahly  3–0  Espérance de Tunis
Report

Al Ahly won 4–0 on aggregate.

Final

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The final will be played on 17 July 2021 at Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca.

Kaizer Chiefs  0–3  Al Ahly
Report
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (Burundi)

Notes

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  1. ^ CR Belouizdad played their home matches at Stade du 5 Juillet, Algiers, instead of their regular home stadium Stade du 20 Août, Algiers, which did not meet CAF requirements.
  2. ^ The Espérance de Tunis v Al Ahly match, originally scheduled to be played at 17:00 local time (UTC+1), was postponed for one hour due to clashes between Tunisian police officers and Espérance de Tunis fans.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "CAF Champions League regulations" (PDF). CAF.
  2. ^ "Draw Procedure: Total CAF Champions League and Total CAF Confederation Cup Knockout stages". CAF. 30 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Total CAF CL - Road to the Final". CAF. 30 April 2021.
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