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The continuation of the 2022-23 CAF Champions League has reached the group stage. The dates are set, the clubs are ready, and it's time to preview the situation.
With only 16 clubs remaining in the battle, four groups of four were assigned their positions on December 12, 2022, in Cairo, Egypt.
The top-two clubs from each group will progress to the quarterfinal knockout stage, and I will admit that I don't expect many surprises to happen. Let's first reveal the four CAF Champions League groups and follow that up with the schedule for each round of the group stage.
CAF Champions League Group Stage Draw:
Group A:
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco), Petro de Luanda (Angola), JS Kabylie (Algeria), AS Vita Club (DR Congo)
Group B:
Al Ahly (Egypt), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Al Hilal (Sudan), Coton Sport (Cameroon)
Group C:
Raja Club Athletic (Morocco), Horoya AC (Guinea), Simba SC (Tanzania), Vipers SC (Uganda)
Group D:
Esperance (Tunisia), Zamalek (Egypt), CR Belouizdad (Algeria), Al Merrikh (Sudan)
CAF Champions League Matchday Schedule:
Matchday 1: 10-11 February 2023
Matchday 2: 17-18 February 2023
Matchday 3: 24-25 February 2023
Matchday 4: 7 March 2023
Matchday 5: 17-18 March 2023
Matchday 6: 31 March - 1 April 2023
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Now that the draw and schedule are out of the way, let's talk about this season's edition of the CAF Champions League. This is the 13th straight campaign I have covered from my forums and posting sites over the years, and I am familiar with most of these clubs.
I hope that most of you are familiar with my 2018 and 2019 predictions in which I posted Esperance to win both titles in a row. The club and I are still very close, and you can find me posting even today on the Esperance team page.
I posted that CAF Champions League article right here at SportsKeeda at the time, and that was how the club got wind of my prediction for Esperance to win the 2018 title. After they won the trophy, the organizers of the team took it upon themselves to customize a team jersey for me, and the video is proudly hanging out on my Youtube channel.
Let's get to this year's CAF Champions League tournament as Esperance headlines Group D. I fully expect them to be one of the top two clubs to move on to the next stage of the event. As some of you may know, I have handicapped Tunisia Ligue 1 football and Morocco Botola Pro football for over 10 years now, which basically started after the World Cup in Africa back in 2010.
Esperance and Zamalek will advance past CR Belouizdad and Al Merrikh, although if any surprises do happen, I think Belouizdad have the best chance of doing it. Belouizdad flew through the first round with a 3-0 aggregate win over Bo Rangers out of Sudan. After going down 2-1 in the first leg of their second-round tie with Djoliba at home, the Great Chabab won the second leg meeting, 2-0, in Mali to reach the CAF Champions League group stage.
It will be interesting to see how Group D shapes up, and I will certainly have my eyes on it all the way through. Esperance also went down 2-1 in the second round, but since CAF still recognizes the away goal ruling, their 2-2 aggregate draw against Plateau United was enough to see them advance to the group stage.
Back to Group A, and to be honest, the way you see them listed above is the exact order I expect them to finish. Wydad and Petro De Luanda should have enough to earn the top two spots from the group.
Vita Club didn't even score a goal in their second-round affair against Rail Club du Kadiogo and needed a penalty shootout to earn their spot in the pots. Vita Club were drawn into Pot 4 with three weak clubs that had to scratch and claw to get to this stage of the CAF Champions League, but I expect either of the four to be a threat in the group stage. (Cotton Sport, Al Merrikh, and Vipers were also drawn into Pot 4)
Cotton Sport features in Group B, and I don't think anyone expects Al Ahly to fall short in this group. The Egyptian side have reached the last three finals, having won the first two before falling to Wydad in the finals a year ago, 2-0.
Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns were paired in last year's edition of the CAF Champions League, as the South Africans took the top spot in the group but were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Petro De Luanda, while Ahly advanced to the finals again. The two should easily get past Al Hilal and Cotton Sport in Group B play.
Sliding into Group C, Raja Casablanca and Horoya were paired together last season as well, as Raja took the top spot and Horoya bounced out of the event, finishing last in Group B. In fact, Horoya have been eliminated in the last two years at the group stage, and this time around they didn't have to take the pitch in round 1 while advancing to round 2.
The Hawks from Gambia were unable to reach the financial requirements to compete in this year's event. Horoya got an early gift and a walkover result to send them to round 2 but the Freedom Fighters barely escaped their tie with ASEC Mimosas, 2-1 on aggregate.
I believe that Simba will progress out of Group C alongside Raja Casablanca, and that will take us to the knockout stage of the event.
Keep in mind that if you know where to find me, I will have matchday predictions throughout the group stage and tips to offer throughout the event. As always, I will make predictions again when they reach the quarterfinal stage with a new article for that portion of the CAF Champions League tournament.
I hope you enjoyed my preview and I will see you again soon!
