The CAF Champions League draw was conducted earlier this week, providing football fans across the continent with a historical knockout bracket for Africa’s primary club competition.
At the final day of the competition’s group stage, Egyptian champion Al-Ahly travelled to Khartoum, Sudan to play their long-time rival - Al-Hilal Omdurman. The game was played on February 1st, the same date of the Port Said disaster of 2012. On the 74th minute, Al-Hilal fans invaded the pitch in memory of the 74 victims of the disaster. The club was fined and 4 of its matches will be played behind closed doors for this demonstration of solidarity.
Al-Hilal equalised deep within stoppage time to force a 1-1 draw, spoiling the Ahlawys’ ground-breaking first-ever goal on Sudanese soil. However, this result did not prevent the Egyptian powerhouse from advancing to the knockout stages.
For the first time since the inauguration of the African Champions League, the knockout stage will include eight teams which were crowned as champions at least once. A wowing total of 29 CAF Champions League titles are shared among the participating clubs.
Al-Ahly Cairo won the cup 8 times;
their arch-nemesis Zamalek and Congolese TP Mazembe have won it 5 times each;
Esperance Tunis with 4;
Raja Casablanca 3;
Wydad Casablanca 2;
and Etoile de Sahel and Mamelodi Sundowns have won one title each.
A brief look on the geographical split of the title provides another fascinating perspective:
Egyptian teams won 14 titles out of 22 times they reached the finals;
Tunisian teams won 6 out of 13 times;
Congolese teams won 6 out of 12;
Moroccan teams won 6 out of 9;
Algerian teams won 5 out of 7;
Cameroonian teams won 5 out of 6;
Ghanaian teams won the title 3 times out of 11 occasions they have reached the stage.
This year’s final will be the first-ever in the competition’s history to be held in a neutral venue. It will also be the first time only one leg is played. The location and venue have yet to be confirmed.
Here are the quarter-final clashes by dates:
via Soccerway
After last year’s final VAR farce, this year the CAF will enjoy the cream of its club football in what can improve its image worldwide.
With the Casablanca Derby becoming the one of the continent’s most fascinating competitions, it would be thrilling to see whether Raja and Wydad can meet in the final. Just a couple of months back, the two sides played each other in the Arab Champions Cup in a doubleheader that would go down as one of the greatest in African football history - with an emotional 4-4 display in the 2nd leg.
Can Esperance Tunis win the title for the third time in a row? Can the Moroccan mega clubs maintain their reputation as the new cultural leaders of African football? Will the Egyptian teams regain their statuses as the best in the continent? Will Pitso Mosimane prevail again as the tactical and psychological genius he is to bring South Africa their first club title since 2016? Or would it be TP Mazembe to bring joy to the country who spends much of its time in grief?
The knockout stage of the African Champions League is definitely worth following this year.