2018 CAF Champions League
The 2018 CAF Champions League (officially the 2018 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 54th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 22nd edition under the current CAF Champions League title. Espérance de Tunis won the title for the third time, defeating Al Ahly in the final, and qualified as the CAF representative at the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and also earned the right to play against the winners of the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup, Raja  Casablanca, in the 2019 CAF Super Cup. Wydad AC were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by ES Sétif. 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. As a result, theoretically a maximum of 68 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached. For the 2018 CAF Champions League, the CAF uses the 2012–2016 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: The points are multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows: Teams. The following 59 teams from 47 associations entered the competition: This was the second highest number of teams in the history of CAF Champions League. The highest number was recorded in 2007 where 60 teams entered. "Associations are shown according to their 2012–2016 CAF 5-Year Ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated." Schedule. The schedule  of the competition was as follows (matches scheduled in midweek in "italics"). The regulations were modified with an additional draw before the quarter-finals. 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 (Saturdays and Tuesdays only), 16:00 and 19:00 GMT. Prize money. In 2018, the fixed amount of prize money paid to the clubs is as follows: