The 2018 CAF Champions League officially the 2018 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons is the 54th edition of 's premier club tournament organized by the CAF , and the 22nd edition under the current format. The winners of the 2018 CAF Champions League will qualify as the CAF representative at the in the United Arab Emirates, and also earn the right to play against the winners of the in the. All 56 member associations may enter the CAF Champions League, with the 12 highest ranked associations according to their eligible to enter two teams in the competition. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament — although this level has never been reached. This is the second highest number of teams in the history of CAF Champions League. The highest number was recorded in where 60 teams entered. Associations eligible to enter two teams Ranked 1—12 Association Team Qualifying method 1st — 85 pts champions runners-up 2nd — 76 pts champions runners-up 3rd — 70 pts champions runners-up 4th — 62 pts champions runners-up 5th — 45 pts champions runners-up 6th — 41 pts Title holders winners champions runners-up 7th — 35 pts champions runners-up 8th — 21 pts champions runners-up 9th — 18 pts champions runners-up 10th — 16 pts champions runners-up 11th — 15 pts champions runners-up 12th — 13 pts champions runners-up Associations eligible to enter one team Association Team Qualifying method 13th — 12 pts champions 14th — 8 pts winners 15th — 7 pts champions 16th — 5 pts champions 17th — 3 pts champions 18th — 2 pts champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions leaders at entry deadline champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions champions Notes The schedule of the competition is as follows matches scheduled in midweek in italics. The regulations have been modified with an additional draw before the quarter-finals. Effective from the Champions League group stage, weekend matches are played on Fridays and Saturdays while midweek matches are played on Tuesdays, with some exceptions. Kick-off times are also fixed at 13:00 Saturdays and Tuesdays only , 16:00 and 19:00. Phase Round Draw date First leg Second leg Qualifying Preliminary round 13 December 2017 , 9—11 February 2018 20—21 February 2018 First round 6—7 March 2018 16—18 March 2018 Group stage Matchday 1 21 March 2018 , 4—5 May 2018 Matchday 2 15 May 2018 Matchday 3 17 July 2018 Matchday 4 27—28 July 2018 Matchday 5 17—18 August 2018 Matchday 6 28 August 2018 Knockout stage Quarter-finals 3 September 2018 , 14—15 September 2018 21—22 September 2018 Semi-finals 2 October 2018 23 October 2018 Final 2 November 2018 9 November 2018 Main article: The draw for the preliminary round and first round was held on 13 December 2017 at the CAF headquarters in ,. In the qualifying rounds, each tie was played on a home-and-away basis. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the would be applied, and if still tied, would not be played, and the would be used to determine the winner Regulations III. First round The 16 winners of the first round advanced to the , while the 16 losers of the first round entered the. Team 1 Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 0—1 1—3 7—4 1—4 7—1 2—7 4—1 1—2 0—1 4—3 3—3 2—2 4—3 3—2 1—1 3—2 0—2 Main article: The draw for the group stage was held on 21 March 2018, 19:00 , at the Ritz Carlton in ,. The 16 teams, all winners of the of , were drawn into four groups of four. The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons points shown in parentheses. 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. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the of the. Tiebreakers The teams were ranked according to 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss. If tied on points, tiebreakers were applied in the following order Regulations III. Main article: In the knockout stage, the eight teams play a. Each tie is played on a home-and-away basis. If the aggregate score is tied after the second leg, the is applied, and if still tied, is not played, and the is used to determine the winner Regulations III. Bracket The bracket was decided after the draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, which was held on 3 September 2018, 20:00 , at the CAF headquarters in ,. Team 1 Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg 1—1 3—1 1—0 0—4 Semi-finals In the semi-finals, the four quarter-final winners play in two ties, with the matchups and order of legs decided by draw. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
