2018 CAF Champions League group stage


The 2018 CAF Champions League group stage was played from 4 May to 28 August 2018. 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.

Draw


The draw for the group stage was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 EET, at the Ritz Carlton in Cairo, Egypt. 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. 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.
PotPot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4
Teams
  • TP Mazembe
  • Al-Ahly
  • Étoile du Sahel
  • Wydad Casablanca
  • Mamelodi Sundowns
  • ZESCO United
  • Espérance de Tunis
  • ES Sétif
  • MC Alger
  • KCCA
  • Horoya
  • Mbabane Swallows
  • 1º de Agosto
  • Township Rollers
  • Difaâ El Jadidi
  • AS Togo-Port

    • Format


    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. If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order :
    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

    The schedule of each matchday was as follows. 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, 16:00 and 19:00 GMT.
    MatchdayDatesMatches
    Matchday 14–5 May 2018Team 1 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 3
    Matchday 215 May 2018Team 3 vs. Team 1, Team 4 vs. Team 2
    Matchday 317 July 2018Team 4 vs. Team 3, Team 1 vs. Team 2
    Matchday 427–28 July 2018Team 3 vs. Team 4, Team 2 vs. Team 1
    Matchday 517–18 August 2018Team 4 vs. Team 1, Team 3 vs. Team 2
    Matchday 628 August 2018Team 1 vs. Team 3, Team 2 vs. Team 4

    Groups

    Group A

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    Group B

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    Group C

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    Group D

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