In the 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.[2]
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.[1] 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:[3]
Libya (LBY): As there were no club football in Libya in 2012, the 2009–10 Libyan Premier League champion (last completed season) was selected to represent Libya.[5]
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.[8]
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 (no extra time was played).[1]
Location of teams of the 2013 CAF Champions League group stage. Group A Group B
The draw for the group stage was held on 14 May 2013.[9] 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.
Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[1]
Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned
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.[1]
