2017 CAF Champions League

The 2017 CAF Champions League (officially the 2017 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 53rd edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 21st edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

2017 CAF Champions League
2017 Total CAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates10 February – 4 November 2017
Teams55 (from 43 associations)
Final positions
Champions Wydad Casablanca (2nd title)
Runners-up Al-Ahly
Tournament statistics
Matches played138
Goals scored318 (2.3 per match)
Top scorer(s) Taha Yassine Khenissi (7 goals)

Starting from this season, the group stage was expanded from eight to 16 teams, divided into four groups of four, and the knockout stage expanded from 4 to 8 teams.[2][3]

Wydad Casablanca defeated Al-Ahly in the final to win their second African Cup of Champions Clubs/CAF Champions League title, and qualified as the CAF representative at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2018 CAF Super Cup.[4] Mamelodi Sundowns were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Wydad Casablanca.

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

For the 2017 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2011–2015 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:[5]

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:

  • 2015 – 5
  • 2014 – 4
  • 2013 – 3
  • 2012 – 2
  • 2011 – 1

Teams

The following 55 teams from 43 associations entered the competition.

Associations are shown according to their 2011–2015 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.

Association Team Qualifying method
Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)
Tunisia
(1st – 100 pts)
Étoile du Sahel 2015–16 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
Espérance de Tunis 2015–16 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
Egypt
(2nd – 80 pts)
Al-Ahly 2015–16 Egyptian Premier League champions
Zamalek 2015–16 Egyptian Premier League runners-up
DR Congo
(3rd – 69 pts)
TP Mazembe 2015–16 Linafoot champions
AS Vita Club 2015–16 Linafoot runners-up
Algeria
(4th – 64 pts)
USM Alger 2015–16 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champions
JS Saoura 2015–16 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runners-up
Sudan
(5th – 51 pts)
Al-Hilal 2016 Sudan Premier League champions
Al-Merrikh 2016 Sudan Premier League runners-up
South Africa
(6th – 27 pts)
Mamelodi Sundowns Title holders (2016 CAF Champions League winners)
2015–16 South African Premier Division champions
Bidvest Wits 2015–16 South African Premier Division runners-up
Congo
(T-7th – 24 pts)
AC Léopards 2016 Congo Ligue 1 champions
Diables Noirs 2016 Congo Ligue 1 runners-up
Morocco
(T-7th – 24 pts)
FUS Rabat 2015–16 Botola champions
Wydad Casablanca 2015–16 Botola runners-up
Ivory Coast
(T-9th – 23 pts)
AS Tanda 2015–16 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champions
Séwé Sport 2015–16 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 runners-up
Mali
(T-9th – 23 pts)
Stade Malien 2016 Malian Première Division champions
AS Real Bamako 2016 Malian Première Division runners-up
Cameroon
(11th – 19 pts)
UMS de Loum 2016 Elite One champions
Coton Sport 2016 Elite One runners-up
Nigeria
(12th – 12 pts)
Enugu Rangers 2016 Nigeria Professional Football League champions
Rivers United 2016 Nigeria Professional Football League runners-up
Associations eligible to enter one team
Angola
(13th – 7 pts)
1º de Agosto 2016 Girabola champions
Ghana
(T-14th – 4 pts)
Wa All Stars 2016 Ghanaian Premier League champions
Libya
(T-14th – 4 pts)
Al-Ahli Tripoli 2016 Libyan Premier League champions
Zambia
(T-14th – 4 pts)
Zanaco 2016 Zambia Super League champions
Ethiopia
(17th – 3 pts)
Saint George 2015–16 Ethiopian Premier League champions
Botswana Township Rollers 2015–16 Botswana Premier League champions
Burkina Faso Rail Club du Kadiogo 2015–16 Burkinabé Premier League champions
Burundi Vital'O 2015–16 Burundi Premier League champions
Comoros Ngaya Club 2016 Comoros Premier League champions
Equatorial Guinea Sony Elá Nguema 2015–16 Equatoguinean Primera División champions
Gabon CF Mounana 2015–16 Gabon Championnat National D1 champions
Gambia Gambia Ports Authority 2015–16 GFA League First Division champions
Guinea Horoya 2015–16 Guinée Championnat National champions
Kenya Tusker 2016 Kenyan Premier League champions
Lesotho Lioli 2015–16 Lesotho Premier League champions
Liberia Barrack Young Controllers 2016 Liberian First Division League champions
Madagascar CNaPS Sport 2016 THB Champions League champions
Mauritius AS Port-Louis 2000 2015–16 Mauritian Premier League champions
Mozambique Ferroviário Beira 2016 Moçambola champions
Niger AS FAN 2015–16 Niger Premier League champions
Réunion Saint-Louisienne 2015 Réunion Premier League runners-up[Note REU]
Rwanda APR 2015–16 Rwanda National Football League champions
Senegal US Gorée 2015–16 Senegal Premier League champions
Seychelles Côte d'Or 2016 Seychelles First Division champions
Sierra Leone Johansen 2016 Sierra Leonean FA Cup winners[Note SLE]
South Sudan Atlabara 2015 South Sudan Football Championship champions[Note SSD]
Swaziland Royal Leopards 2015–16 Swazi Premier League champions
Tanzania Young Africans 2015–16 Tanzanian Premier League champions
Uganda KCCA 2015–16 Uganda Super League champions
Zanzibar Zimamoto 2015–16 Zanzibar Premier League champions
Zimbabwe CAPS United 2016 Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League champions
Notes
  1. ^
    Réunion (REU): Réunion were represented by Saint-Louisienne, 2015 Réunion Premier League runners-up, as the 2016 Réunion Premier League was not completed by the end of the year.
  2. ^
    Sierra Leone (SLE): Sierra Leone were represented by Johansen, the 2016 Sierra Leonean FA Cup winners, as the league was not played in 2016.
  3. ^
    South Sudan (SSD): South Sudan were represented by Atlabara, the 2015 South Sudan Football Championship champions, as the league was not played in 2016.
Associations which did not enter a team
Location of teams of the 2017 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][7]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Preliminary round 21 December 2016
(Cairo, Egypt)
10–12 February 2017 17–19 February 2017
First round 10–12 March 2017 17–19 March 2017
Group stage Matchday 1 26 April 2017
(Cairo, Egypt)
12–14 May 2017
Matchday 2 23–24 May 2017
Matchday 3 2–4 June 2017
Matchday 4 20–21 June 2017
Matchday 5 30 June – 2 July 2017
Matchday 6 7–9 July 2017
Knockout stage Quarter-finals 15–17 September 2017 22–24 September 2017
Semi-finals 29 September – 1 October 2017 20–22 October 2017
Final 27–29 October 2017 3–5 November 2017

The calendar was amended from the original one for the following dates:[7]

  • Quarter-finals first leg: moved from 8–10 September to 15–17 September
  • Quarter-finals second leg: moved from 15–17 September to 22–24 September
  • Semi-finals second leg: moved from 13–15 October to 20–22 October

Qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 21 December 2016 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[8][9] 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).[4]

Preliminary round

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Rail Club du Kadiogo 3–1 Diables Noirs 3–0 0–1
Sony Elá Nguema 1–5 Al-Merrikh 0–1 1–4
AS Real Bamako 0–4 Rivers United 0–0 0–4
AS Tanda 4–3 AS FAN 3–0 1–3
US Gorée 1–2 Horoya 0–0 1–2
Johansen 1–4 FUS Rabat 1–1 0–3
Wa All Stars 1–5 Al-Ahli Tripoli 1–3 0–2
KCCA 2–2 (a) 1º de Agosto 1–0 1–2
CF Mounana 3–0 Vital'O 2–0 1–0
Zanaco 1–0 APR 0–0 1–0
Ngaya Club 2–6 Young Africans 1–5 1–1
Barrack Young Controllers 1–1 (7–6 p) Stade Malien 1–0 0–1
Zimamoto 3–4 Ferroviário Beira 2–1 1–3
JS Saoura 1–1 (a) Enugu Rangers 1–1 0–0
Royal Leopards 1–4 AS Vita Club 0–1 1–3
Gambia Ports Authority 1–0 Séwé Sport 1–0 0–0
CNaPS Sport 4–4 (a) Township Rollers 2–1 2–3
Coton Sport 7–2 Atlabara 2–0 5–2
Saint-Louisienne 3–4 Bidvest Wits 2–1 1–3
Lioli 1–2 CAPS United 0–0 1–2
Côte d'Or 0–5 Saint George 0–2 0–3
AC Léopards 2–2 (a) UMS de Loum 1–0 1–2
Tusker 2–3 AS Port-Louis 2000 1–1 1–2

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
USM Alger 2–1 Rail Club du Kadiogo 2–0 0–1
Rivers United 3–4 Al-Merrikh 3–0 0–4
Étoile du Sahel 5–1 AS Tanda 3–0 2–1
Espérance de Tunis 4–3 Horoya 3–1 1–2
Al-Ahli Tripoli 3–3 (a) FUS Rabat 2–0 1–3
Mamelodi Sundowns 3–2 KCCA 2–1 1–1
Wydad Casablanca 1–1 (5–4 p) CF Mounana 1–0 0–1
Young Africans 1–1 (a) Zanaco 1–1 0–0
Ferroviário Beira 2–2 (4–1 p) Barrack Young Controllers 2–0 0–2
Zamalek 5–3 Enugu Rangers 4–1 1–2
Gambia Ports Authority 1–3 AS Vita Club 1–1 0–2
Coton Sport 2–1 CNaPS Sport 1–0 1–1
Al-Ahly 1–0 Bidvest Wits 1–0 0–0
TP Mazembe 1–1 (a) CAPS United 1–1 0–0
AC Léopards 0–3 Saint George 0–1 0–2
Al-Hilal 5–2 AS Port-Louis 2000 3–0 2–2

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 26 April 2017, 14:00 EET (UTC+2), at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[10][11][12] 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).[13]

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.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification ESS CFB MER HIL
1 Étoile du Sahel 6 3 3 0 13 4 +9 12 Quarter-finals 5–0 3–0 (awd.)[lower-alpha 1] 1–1
2 Ferroviário Beira 6 2 2 2 6 8 2 8 1–1 1–0 0–0
3 Al-Merrikh 6 2 1 3 6 9 3 7 1–2 2–1 2–1
4 Al-Hilal 6 0 4 2 4 8 4 4 1–1 0–3 (awd.)[lower-alpha 1] 1–1
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. FIFA suspended the Sudan Football Association on 7 July 2017.[14] As a result, both Al-Hilal and Al-Merrikh could not play their final group matches against Ferroviário Beira and Étoile du Sahel respectively, and the matches were awarded as 3–0 wins to their opponents.[15]

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification USM AHT ZAM CAP
1 USM Alger 6 3 2 1 12 5 +7 11 Quarter-finals 3–0 2–0 4–1
2 Al-Ahli Tripoli 6 2 3 1 11 10 +1 9 1–1 0–0 4–2
3 Zamalek 6 1 3 2 6 8 2 6[lower-alpha 1] 1–1 2–2 2–0
4 CAPS United 6 2 0 4 10 16 6 6[lower-alpha 1] 2–1 2–4 3–1
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head results: Zamalek 2–0 CAPS United, CAPS United 3–1 Zamalek (Zamalek won on away goals).

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification EST MSD STG VIT
1 Espérance de Tunis 6 3 3 0 11 4 +7 12 Quarter-finals 0–0 4–0 3–1
2 Mamelodi Sundowns 6 2 3 1 6 4 +2 9 1–2 0–0 1–1
3 Saint George 6 1 2 3 2 7 5 5[lower-alpha 1] 0–0 0–1 1–0
4 AS Vita Club 6 1 2 3 7 11 4 5[lower-alpha 1] 2–2 1–3 2–1
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head results: Saint George 1–0 AS Vita Club, AS Vita Club 2–1 Saint George (Saint George won on away goals).

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification WAC AHL ZAN COT
1 Wydad Casablanca 6 4 0 2 7 3 +4 12 Quarter-finals 2–0 1–0 2–0
2 Al-Ahly 6 3 2 1 7 3 +4 11[lower-alpha 1] 2–0 0–0 3–1
3 Zanaco 6 3 2 1 4 2 +2 11[lower-alpha 1] 1–0 0–0 2–1
4 Coton Sport 6 0 0 6 2 12 10 0 0–2 0–2 0–1
Source: CAF
Notes:
  1. Head-to-head results: Al-Ahly 0–0 Zanaco, Zanaco 0–0 Al-Ahly (tied on head-to-head results, ranked on total goal difference).

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).[4]

Bracket

  Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                                   
Al-Ahli Tripoli 0 0 0  
Étoile du Sahel 0 2 2  
  Étoile du Sahel 2 2 4  
  Al-Ahly 1 6 7  
Al-Ahly 2 2 4
Espérance de Tunis 2 1 3  
  Al-Ahly 1 0 1
  Wydad Casablanca 1 1 2
Ferroviário Beira 1 0 1 (a)  
USM Alger 1 0 1 (a)  
  USM Alger 0 1 1
  Wydad Casablanca 0 3 3  
Mamelodi Sundowns 1 0 1 (2 p)
Wydad Casablanca 0 1 1 (3 p)  

Quarter-finals

In the quarter-finals, the winners of one group played the runners-up of another group, with the group winners hosting the second leg.[4]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Ahli Tripoli 0–2 Étoile du Sahel 0–0 0–2
Al-Ahly 4–3 Espérance de Tunis 2–2 2–1
Ferroviário Beira 1–1 (a) USM Alger 1–1 0–0
Mamelodi Sundowns 1–1 (2–3 p) Wydad Casablanca 1–0 0–1

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners played in two ties, with the order of legs decided by an additional draw held after the group stage draw.[11]

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Étoile du Sahel 4–7 Al-Ahly 2–1 2–6
USM Alger 1–3 Wydad Casablanca 0–0 1–3

Final

In the final, the two semi-final winners played each other, with the order of legs decided by an additional draw held after the group stage draw.[11]

Al-Ahly 1–1 Wydad Casablanca
Report
Wydad Casablanca 1–0 Al-Ahly
Report
Attendance: 65,000

Wydad Casablanca won 2–1 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 Taha Yassine Khenissi Espérance de Tunis 12211 7
2 Achraf Bencharki Wydad Athletic Club 1121 5
3 Walid Azaro Al-Ahly 13 4
Oussama Darfalou USM Alger 121
Tady Etekiama AS Vita Club 22
6 Diogo Acosta Étoile du Sahel 21 3
Junior Ajayi Al-Ahly 111
Brian Amidu CAPS United 21
Farouk Chafaï USM Alger 111
Ronald Chitiyo CAPS United 21
Walid El Karti Wydad Athletic Club 111
Ronald Pfumbidzai CAPS United 111
Moamen Zakaria Al-Ahly 111

Prize money

In 2017, the fixed amount of prize money paid to the clubs is as follows: [16]

Final
position
Money awarded to clubNational
Association share 5%
WinnerUS$2,500,000 US$125,000
Runners-upUS$1,250,000 US$62,500
Semi-finalistsUS$800,000 US$40,000
Quarter-finalistsUS$650,000 US$32,500
3rd in group stageUS$550,000 US$27,500
4th in group stageUS$550,000 US$27,500

See also

References

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