2013 CAF Champions League


The 2013 CAF Champions League was the 49th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, and the 17th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The winner qualified for the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play in the 2014 [CAF Super Cup].
In the 2013 CAF [Champions League Final|final], defending champions Al-Ahly of Egypt defeated Orlando Pirates of South Africa, and were crowned African club champions for a record-extending eighth time.
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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 could also enter if they had not already qualified for the CAF Champions League. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2013 CAF Champions League, the CAF used the 2007–2011 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculated points for each association based on their clubs’ performance over those 5 years in the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup. The criteria for points were the following:
CAF Champions LeagueCAF Confederation Cup
Winner5 points4 points
Runner-up4 points3 points
Losing semi-finalists3 points2 points
3rd place in groups2 points1 point
4th place in groups1 point1 point

The points were multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
  • 2011 – 5
  • 2010 – 4
  • 2009 – 3
  • 2008 – 2
  • 2007 – 1

Teams

The following teams 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 2007–2011 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
;Notes
The following associations did not enter a team: Cape Verde, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Réunion, Somalia, South Sudan.

Schedule

The schedule of the competition was as follows.

Qualifying rounds

The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 9 December 2012, and the fixtures were announced by the CAF on 10 December 2012.
Qualification ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the sides were level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still level, the tie proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out.

Preliminary round

;Notes

Second round

The losers of the second round entered the 2013 CAF Confederation Cup play-off round.

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 14 May 2013. 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.

Knock-out stage

Knock-out ties were played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the sides were level on aggregate after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still level, the tie proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out.

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.

Final

In the final, the order of legs was decided by a draw.