| Tourney Name: | CAF Champions League |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Size: | 280px |
| Other Titles: | 2014 Orange CAF Champions League |
| Dates: | 7 February – 1 November 2014 |
| Num Teams: | 58 |
| Associations: | 47 |
| Champion Other: | ES Sétif |
| Count: | 2 |
| Second Other: |  AS Vita Club |
| Matches: | 126 |
| Goals: | 313 |
| Top Scorer: | El Hedi Belameiri Haythem Jouini Ndombe MubeleMrisho Ngasa (6 goals each) |
| Prevseason: | 2013 |
| Nextseason: | 2015 |
The 2014 CAF Champions League (also known as the 2014 Orange CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 50th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 18th edition under the current CAF Champions League format. The two-time defending champions Al-Ahly were eliminated in the second round by Al-Ahly Benghazi.
In the final, ES Sétif of Algeria defeated AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the away goals rule after drawing 3–3 on aggregate, to win their second title.[1] They qualified for the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, and earned the right to play in the 2015 CAF Super Cup.[2]
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.[2] As a result, theoretically a maximum of 69 teams could enter the tournament – although this level has never been reached.
For the 2014 CAF Champions League, the CAF used the 2008–2012 CAF 5-year ranking, which calculated 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 were the following:[3]
| CAF Champions League | CAF Confederation Cup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Winners | 5 points | 4 points | |
| Runners-up | 4 points | 3 points | |
| Losing semi-finalists | 3 points | 2 points | |
| 3rd place in groups | 2 points | 1 point | |
| 4th place in groups | 1 point | 1 point |
The points were multiplied by a coefficient according to the year as follows:
The following teams entered the competition. Teams in bold received a bye to the first round. The other teams entered the preliminary round.
Associations are shown according to their 2008–2012 CAF 5-year ranking – those with a ranking score have their rank and score indicated.
The following associations did not enter a team:
The schedule of the competition was as follows (all draws held at CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt unless otherwise stated).[4]
| Phase | Round | Draw date | First leg | Second leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying | Preliminary round | 16 December 2013 (Marrakech, Morocco)[5] | 7–9 February 2014 | 14–16 February 2014 |
| First round | 28 February–2 March 2014 | 7–9 March 2014 | ||
| Second round | 21–23 March 2014 | 28–30 March 2014 | ||
| Group stage | Matchday 1 | 29 April 2014[6] | 16–18 May 2014 | |
| Matchday 2 | 23–25 May 2014 | |||
| Matchday 3 | 6–8 June 2014 | |||
| Matchday 4 | 25–27 July 2014 | |||
| Matchday 5 | 8–10 August 2014 | |||
| Matchday 6 | 22–24 August 2014 | |||
| Knock-out stage | Semi-finals | 19–21 September 2014 | 26–28 September 2014 | |
| Final | 24–26 October 2014 | 31 October–2 November 2014 | ||
See main article: 2014 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds.
The draw for the preliminary, first and second qualifying rounds was held on 16 December 2013.[7]
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).[2]
The losers of the second round entered the 2014 CAF Confederation Cup play-off round.[2]
See main article: 2014 CAF Champions League group stage.
The draw for the group stage was held on 29 April 2014.[8] 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.
See main article: 2014 CAF Champions League knockout stage.
Knock-out 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).[2]
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.[2]
See main article: 2014 CAF Champions League final.
In the final, the order of legs was decided by a draw, held after the group stage draw.
