2019–20 CAF Champions League
International football competition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2019–20 CAF Champions League (officially the 2019–20 Total CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the 56th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 24th edition under the current CAF Champions League title.
2019–20 Total CAF Champions League | |
---|---|
Tournament details | |
Dates | Qualifying: 9 August – 29 September 2019 Competition proper: 29 November 2019 – 27 November 2020 |
Teams | Competition proper: 16 Total: 61 (from 49 associations) |
Final positions | |
Champions | Al-Ahly (9th title) |
Runners-up | Zamalek |
Tournament statistics | |
Matches played | 61 |
Goals scored | 131 (2.15 per match) |
Top scorer(s) | Jackson Muleka (7 goals) |
← 2018–19 2020–21 → |
This season was to be the first to follow an August–to-May schedule, as per the decision of the CAF Executive Committee on 20 July 2017.[2] However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the semi-finals and final of the competition to be postponed until October and November 2020. Moreover, for the first time, the final was played as a single match at a venue pre-selected by CAF,[3] and was originally to be played at the Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon.[4] However, during the suspension of the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cameroon decided to withdraw from hosting, and instead, the final was played in Egypt, at the Cairo International Stadium in Cairo.
Ahly won a record 9th title, defeating fellow Egyptian rivals Zamalek 2–1 in the final.[5]
As winners of the 2019–20 CAF Champions League, Ahly qualified for the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, and earned the right to play against the winners of the 2019–20 CAF Confederation Cup in the 2020–21 CAF Super Cup.[6]
This was the first time in the history of the CAF Champions League that the final was contested between two clubs from the same country.