2015 CAF Champions League

The 2015 CAF Champions League (officially the 2015 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 51st edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 19th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner qualified for the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play in the 2016 CAF Super Cup.[1]

2015 CAF Champions League
2015 Orange CAF Champions League
Tournament details
Dates13 February – 8 November 2015
Teams57 (from 44 associations)
Final positions
Champions TP Mazembe (5th title)
Runners-up USM Alger
Tournament statistics
Matches played126
Goals scored268 (2.13 per match)
Top scorer(s) Bakri Al-Madina
Mbwana Samatta
(7 goals each)

TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo won the competition for the fifth time in their history after a 4–1 aggregate victory over USM Alger of Algeria in the final.[2] ES Sétif were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage.

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. The title holders can also enter.[1] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.

For the 2015 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2009–2013 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:[3]

CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup
Winner 5 points 4 points
Runner-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:

  • 2013 – 5
  • 2012 – 4
  • 2011 – 3
  • 2010 – 2
  • 2009 – 1

Teams

The following 57 teams from 44 associations entered the competition.

Teams in bold received a bye to the first round. The other teams entered the preliminary round.

Associations are shown according to their 2009–2013 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.[4]

Association Team Qualifying method
Associations eligible to enter two teams (Ranked 1–12)
Tunisia
(1st – 106 pts)		 Espérance de Tunis 2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champion
CS Sfaxien 2013–14 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runner-up
Egypt
(2nd – 80 pts)		 Al-Ahly 2013–14 Egyptian Premier League champion
Smouha 2013–14 Egyptian Premier League runner-up
DR Congo
(3rd – 46 pts)		 TP Mazembe 2013–14 Linafoot champion
SM Sanga Balende 2013–14 Linafoot runner-up
Morocco
(4th – 44 pts)		 Moghreb Tétouan 2013–14 Botola champion
Raja Casablanca 2013–14 Botola runner-up
Nigeria
(5th – 41 pts)		 Kano Pillars 2014 Nigeria Professional Football League champion
Enyimba 2014 Nigeria Professional Football League runner-up
Sudan
(6th – 37 pts)		 Al-Hilal 2014 Sudan Premier League champion
Al-Merrikh 2014 Sudan Premier League runner-up
Algeria
(T-7th – 32 pts)		 USM Alger 2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 champion
ES Sétif Title holders (2014 CAF Champions League winner)
2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 third place
MC El Eulma 2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fourth place[Note ALG]
Mali
(T-7th – 32 pts)		 Stade Malien 2013–14 Malian Première Division champion
Club Olympique de Bamako 2013–14 Malian Première Division runner-up
Cameroon
(T-9th – 21 pts)		 Coton Sport 2014 Elite One champion
Cosmos de Bafia 2014 Elite One runner-up
Congo
(T-9th – 21 pts)		 AC Léopards 2014 Congo Premier League first place before abandoned
Diables Noirs 2014 Congo Premier League second place before abandoned
South Africa
(11th – 20 pts)		 Mamelodi Sundowns 2013–14 South African Premier Division champion
Kaizer Chiefs 2013–14 South African Premier Division runner-up
Angola
(12th – 17 pts)		 Recreativo do Libolo 2014 Girabola champion
Kabuscorp 2014 Girabola runner-up
Associations eligible to enter one team
Ivory Coast
(13th – 13 pts)		 Séwé Sport 2013–14 Côte d'Ivoire Ligue 1 champion
Ghana
(14th – 8 pts)		 Asante Kotoko 2013–14 Ghanaian Premier League champion
Ethiopia
(15th – 5 pts)		 Saint George 2013–14 Ethiopian Premier League champion
Libya
(T-16th – 4 pts)		 Al-Ahli Tripoli 2013–14 Libyan Premier League champion
Zambia
(T-16th – 4 pts)		 ZESCO United 2014 Zambian Premier League champion
Niger
(19th – 2 pts)		 AS GNN 2013–14 Niger Premier League champion
Benin Buffles du Borgou 2013–14 Benin Premier League champion
Botswana Township Rollers 2013–14 Botswana Premier League champion
Burkina Faso Étoile Filante 2013–14 Burkinabé Premier League champion
Burundi LLB Académic 2013–14 Burundi Premier League champion
Chad Foullah Edifice 2014 Ligue de N'Djaména champion
Comoros Fomboni Club 2014 Comoros Premier League champion
Equatorial Guinea Sony Elá Nguema 2014 Equatoguinean Premier League champion
Gabon AS Mangasport 2013–14 Gabon Championnat National D1 champion
Gambia Real Banjul 2014 GFA League First Division champion[Note GAM]
Guinea AS Kaloum 2013–14 Guinée Championnat National champion
Kenya Gor Mahia 2014 Kenyan Premier League champion
Lesotho Bantu 2013–14 Lesotho Premier League champion
Liberia Barrack Young Controllers 2013–14 Liberian First Division League champion
Madagascar CNaPS Sport 2014 THB Champions League champion
Malawi Big Bullets 2014 Malawi Premier Division champion
Mozambique Liga Muçulmana 2014 Moçambola champion
Rwanda APR 2013–14 Rwanda National Football League champion
Senegal AS Pikine 2013–14 Senegal Premier League champion
Seychelles St Michel United 2014 Seychelles First Division champion
Sierra Leone East End Lions 2014 Sierra Leone National Premier League first place before abandoned
South Sudan Al-Malakia 2014 South Sudan National Cup winner
Swaziland Mbabane Swallows 2013–14 Swazi Premier League runner-up
Tanzania Azam 2013–14 Tanzanian Premier League champion
Togo AC Semassi 2014 Togolese Championnat National champion
Uganda Kampala City Council 2013–14 Uganda Super League champion
Zanzibar KMKM 2013–14 Zanzibar Premier League champion
Associations which did not enter a team
Notes
  1. ^
    Algeria (ALG): JS Kabylie, the 2013–14 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 runner-up, was suspended by the CAF for two years due to the death of Albert Ebossé during their league home match against USM Alger.[5][6] On 11 February 2015, the CAS overturned the suspension.[7] However, their replacement MC El Eulma continued to represent Algeria in the 2015 CAF Champions League.
  2. ^
    Gambia (GAM): Gambia were originally not able to enter a team after the association was suspended from all CAF competitions for two years for deliberately fielding overage players in the 2015 African U-20 Championship qualification match against Liberia,[8][9][10] but the ban was lifted by the CAF following new election of the Gambia Football Association.[11]

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws are held at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt).[12]

Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg
Qualifying Preliminary round 22 December 2014[13] 13–15 February 2015 27 February–1 March 2015
First round 13–15 March 2015 3–5 April 2015
Second round 17–19 April 2015 1–3 May 2015
Group stage Matchday 1 5 May 2015[14] 26–28 June 2015
Matchday 2 10–12 July 2015
Matchday 3 24–26 July 2015
Matchday 4 7–9 August 2015
Matchday 5 21–23 August 2015
Matchday 6 11–13 September 2015
Knockout stage Semi-finals 25–27 September 2015 2–4 October 2015
Final 30 October–1 November 2015 6–8 November 2015

Qualifying rounds
Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 22 December 2014.[15]

Qualification ties were 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 level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).[1]

Preliminary round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Mbabane Swallows 1–2 ZESCO United 1–1 0–1
Séwé Sport 2–3 AS Kaloum 1–2 1–1
USM Alger 4–3 Foullah Edifice 3–0 1–3
AS Pikine 1–0 Étoile Filante 1–0 0–0
Al-Hilal 2–1 KMKM 2–0 0–1
Fomboni Club 2–3 Big Bullets 0–1 2–2
Recreativo do Libolo 3–3 (a) SM Sanga Balende 3–1 0–2
Kampala City Council 1–3 Cosmos de Bafia 1–0 0–3
Azam 2–3 Al-Merrikh 2–0 0–3
LLB Académic 0–1 Kabuscorp 0–0 0–1
Sony Elá Nguema 1–2 AC Semassi 1–1 0–1
MC El Eulma 2–2 (a) Saint George 1–0 1–2
East End Lions w/o[A] Asante Kotoko — —
Enyimba 4–0 Buffles du Borgou 3–0 1–0
Al-Ahli Tripoli 1–1 (3–5 p) Smouha 1–0 0–1
Gor Mahia 3–3 (a) CNaPS Sport 1–0 2–3
Liga Muçulmana 1–2 APR 0–0 1–2
Club Olympique de Bamako 2–3 Moghreb Tétouan 2–0 0–3
Al-Malakia 0–5 Kano Pillars 0–2 0–3
Real Banjul 2–1 Barrack Young Controllers 1–1 1–0
Kaizer Chiefs 3–1 Township Rollers 2–1 1–0
Raja Casablanca 6–2 Diables Noirs 4–0 2–2
St Michel United 1–4 Mamelodi Sundowns 1–1 0–3
AS Mangasport 1–0 Bantu 1–0 0–0
Stade Malien 1–1 (a) AS GNN 0–0 1–1
Notes
  1. ^
    Asante Kotoko won on walkover after East End Lions withdrew.[16]

First round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
ZESCO United 2–2 (4–5 p) AS Kaloum 1–1 1–1
USM Alger 6–2 AS Pikine 5–1 1–1
Al-Hilal 5–1 Big Bullets 4–0 1–1
Coton Sport 0–2 SM Sanga Balende 0–0 0–2
Cosmos de Bafia 1–4 Espérance de Tunis 0–1 1–3
Al-Merrikh 3–2 Kabuscorp 2–0 1–2
AC Semassi 0–6 CS Sfaxien 0–5 0–1
MC El Eulma 2–1 Asante Kotoko 0–0 2–1
Enyimba 1–2 Smouha 1–0 0–2
Gor Mahia 0–2 AC Léopards 0–1 0–1
APR 0–4 Al-Ahly 0–2 0–2
Moghreb Tétouan 5–2 Kano Pillars 4–0 1–2
Real Banjul 1–3 ES Sétif 1–1 0–2
Kaizer Chiefs 0–3 Raja Casablanca 0–1 0–2
Mamelodi Sundowns 2–3 TP Mazembe 1–0 1–3
AS Mangasport 2–5 Stade Malien 1–3 1–2

Second round
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
USM Alger 3–2 AS Kaloum 2–1 1–1
SM Sanga Balende 0–2 Al-Hilal 0–1 0–1
Al-Merrikh 2–2 (a) Espérance de Tunis 1–0 1–2
MC El Eulma 1–1 (7–6 p) CS Sfaxien 1–0 0–1
AC Léopards 1–2 Smouha 1–0 0–2
Moghreb Tétouan 1–1 (4–3 p) Al-Ahly 1–0 0–1
Raja Casablanca 4–4 (1–4 p) ES Sétif 2–2 2–2
Stade Malien 3–4 TP Mazembe 2–2 1–2

The losers of the second round entered the 2015 CAF Confederation Cup play-off round.

Group stage
Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League group stage
Location of teams of the 2015 CAF Champions League group stage.
Group A.
Group B.

The draw for the group stage was held on 5 May 2015.[17] The eight teams were drawn into two groups of four. Each group was played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the semi-finals.

Tiebreakers

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 would be applied in the following order:[1]

  1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
  3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  4. Away goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  5. If, after applying criteria 1 to 4 to several teams, two teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1 to 4 are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the two teams in question to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 6 to 9 apply;
  6. Goal difference in all games;
  7. Goals scored in all games;
  8. Away goals scored in all games;
  9. Drawing of lots.

Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification TPM HIL MAT SMO
1 TP Mazembe 6 3 2 1 8 1 +7 11 Advance to knockout stage — 0–0 5–0 1–0
2 Al-Hilal 6 2 3 1 5 3 +2 9 1–0 — 0–1 2–0
3 Moghreb Tétouan 6 2 2 2 6 10 −4 8 0–0 1–1 — 2–1
4 Smouha 6 1 1 4 5 10 −5 4 0–2 1–1 3–2 —
Source: CAF

Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification USM MER ESS MCE
1 USM Alger 6 5 0 1 9 3 +6 15 Advance to knockout stage — 1–0 3–0 2–1
2 Al-Merrikh 6 4 1 1 9 4 +5 13 1–0 — 2–0 2–0
3 ES Sétif 6 1 2 3 5 10 −5 5 1–2 1–1 — 2–2
4 MC El Eulma 6 0 1 5 5 11 −6 1 0–1 2–3 0–1 —
Source: CAF

Knockout stage
Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League knockout stage

Knockout ties were 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 level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).[1]

Bracket
  Semi-finals Final
                         
Al-Hilal 1 0 1  
USM Alger 2 0 2  
    USM Alger 1 0 1
  TP Mazembe 2 2 4
Al-Merrikh 2 0 2
TP Mazembe 1 3 4  

Semi-finals

In the semi-finals, the group A winners played the group B runners-up, and the group B winners played the group A runners-up, with the group winners hosting the second leg.

Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Merrikh 2–4 TP Mazembe 2–1 0–3
Al-Hilal 1–2 USM Alger 1–2 0–0

Final
Main article: 2015 CAF Champions League Final

In the final, the order of legs was determined by a draw, held after the group stage draw.

USM Alger 1–2 TP Mazembe
Seguer  89' Report Kalaba  28'
Samatta  79' (pen.)
Attendance: 15.000
Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)
TP Mazembe 2–0 USM Alger
Samatta  74' (pen.)
Assalé  90+3'		 Report
Attendance: 18,000

Top scorers
Rank Player Team Goals
1 Bakri Al-Madina Al-Merrikh 7
Mbwana Samatta TP Mazembe 7
3 Mouhcine Iajour Moghreb Tétouan 6
Roger Assalé TP Mazembe 6
5 Christian Osaguona Raja Casablanca 5
6 Youcef Belaïli USM Alger 4
Rainford Kalaba TP Mazembe 4
Justine Zulu ZESCO United 4
9 Kaddour Beldjilali USM Alger 3
Mohamed Rabie Meftah USM Alger 3
Mohamed Seguer USM Alger 3
Kabamba Mukundi SM Sanga Balende 3
Hermann Kouao Smouha 3
Kabongo Kassongo Kaloum Star 3
Adil Karrouchy Raja Casablanca 3
Mohammed Gambo Kano Pillars 3
Mudather Careca Al-Hilal 3
Nizar Hamid Al-Hilal 3
Boubacar Kébé Al-Hilal 3
Ahmed Abdalla Al-Merrikh 3
Yannick N'Djeng Espérance de Tunis 3

See also

References
  1. "Regulations of the CAF Champions League" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  2. "TP Mazembe beat USM Alger to win African Champions League". BBC Sport. 8 November 2015.
  3. "CAF disowns club ranking published by some websites". Cafonline.com. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  4. "Two South African clubs for each Interclub Competition". CAF. 29 November 2014.
  5. "Affaire Ebossé, La JS Kabyle suspendue deux années par la CAF" (in French). Goal.com. 21 September 2014.
  6. "JS Kabylie given two year Caf ban over Ebosse death". BBC Sport. 22 September 2014.
  7. "JS Kabylie win appeal against ban imposed after death of Ebosse". BBC Sport. 11 February 2015.
  8. "Gambia suspended from all competitions for two years". Cafonline.com. 3 May 2014.
  9. "The Gambia disqualified from all Caf competitions". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014.
  10. "Gambia banned for 2 years for age cheating". newsobserver.com. 3 May 2014.
  11. "Caf lifts suspension on The Gambia following elections". BBC Sport. 30 September 2014.
  12. "CAF Full Calendar". CAFonline.com. 28 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  13. "Draws made for 2015 Orange Champions League, Confederations Cup". CAF. 22 December 2014.
  14. "Twitter @CAF_Online". CAF. 30 April 2015.
  15. "19th Edition of CAF Champions League CL 2015" (PDF). CAF.
  16. "CAF Clubs Competitions across Africa, Hearts in Action whilst Kotoko gets a walkover". SpyGhana. 13 February 2015. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  17. "Live report: CAF Interclubs draw". CAFonline.com. 5 May 2015.
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