CAF Champions League

The CAF Champions League is an annual continental club competition run by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). It is open to all CAF national league winners and the tournament's last winner. From 2004, the runner-up of the league of the 12 highest-ranked countries in the last 5 years also entered the tournament creating a 64-team field. The Champions League is a knockout competition, with a final group stage, with each tie (including the final) played over 2 legs - home and away. There are 3 knockout stages: the preliminary stage, the 1st round (32 teams) and the 2nd round (16 teams). After the 2nd round, the last 8 teams are split into 2 groups of 4. The winner and runner-up in these groups play in the semi-final for 2 spots in the final.