2019 CAF Champions League final
# 2019 CAF Champions League final

The 2019 CAF Champions League Final was the final of the 2018–19 CAF Champions League, the 55th edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 23rd edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

The final was originally contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Wydad AC from Morocco and defending champions Espérance de Tunis from Tunisia. The first leg was hosted by Wydad AC at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on 24 May 2019, while the second leg was hosted by Espérance de Tunis at the Stade Olympique de Radès in Tunis on 31 May 2019.

Espérance de Tunis were initially declared winners following a refusal by Wydad AC to resume play following an issue with VAR, though CAF later ruled the second leg must be replayed in a neutral venue to decide the champions. However, the decision to order a replay was thrown out by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who told the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to refer the case to its proper disciplinary structures for a decision, and on 7 August 2019, Espérance de Tunis were declared winners for a second time. As winners, they earned the right to play in the 2020 CAF Super Cup and the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup.

## Teams

In the following table, finals until 1996 were in the African Cup of Champions Club era, since 1997 were in the CAF Champions League era.

| Team | Zone | Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) |
| - | - | - |
| Wydad AC | UNAF (North Africa) | 3 (1992, 2011, 2017) |
| Espérance de Tunis | UNAF (North Africa) | 7 (1994, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2018) |

## Venues

| Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco hosted the first leg. | Stade Olympique de Radès in Tunis, Tunisia, hosted the second leg. |
| - | - |

## Road to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

| Wydad AC | Wydad AC | Wydad AC | Wydad AC | Round | Espérance de Tunis | Espérance de Tunis | Espérance de Tunis | Espérance de Tunis |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Qualifying rounds | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| ASC Diaraf | 3–3 (a) | 2–0 (H) | 1–3 (A) | First round | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| Opponent | Result | Result | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | Result | Result |
| ASEC Mimosas | 5–2 (H) | 5–2 (H) | 5–2 (H) | Matchday 1 | Horoya | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) | 1–1 (A) |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | 1–2 (A) | Matchday 2 | FC Platinum | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) |
| Lobi Stars | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | 1–0 (A) | Matchday 3 | Orlando Pirates | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) | 0–0 (A) |
| Lobi Stars | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | 0–0 (H) | Matchday 4 | Orlando Pirates | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) |
| ASEC Mimosas | 0–2 (A) | 0–2 (A) | 0–2 (A) | Matchday 5 | Horoya | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) | 2–0 (H) |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | 1–0 (H) | Matchday 6 | FC Platinum | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) | 2–1 (A) |
| Group A winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 10 2 Mamelodi Sundowns 6 10 3 Lobi Stars 6 7 4 ASEC Mimosas 6 7 Source: CAF | Group A winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 10 2 Mamelodi Sundowns 6 10 3 Lobi Stars 6 7 4 ASEC Mimosas 6 7 Source: CAF | Group A winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 10 2 Mamelodi Sundowns 6 10 3 Lobi Stars 6 7 4 ASEC Mimosas 6 7 Source: CAF | Group A winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 10 2 Mamelodi Sundowns 6 10 3 Lobi Stars 6 7 4 ASEC Mimosas 6 7 Source: CAF | Final standings | Group B winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Espérance de Tunis 6 14 2 Horoya 6 10 3 Orlando Pirates 6 6 4 FC Platinum 6 2 Source: CAF | Group B winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Espérance de Tunis 6 14 2 Horoya 6 10 3 Orlando Pirates 6 6 4 FC Platinum 6 2 Source: CAF | Group B winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Espérance de Tunis 6 14 2 Horoya 6 10 3 Orlando Pirates 6 6 4 FC Platinum 6 2 Source: CAF | Group B winners Pos Teamvte Pld Pts 1 Espérance de Tunis 6 14 2 Horoya 6 10 3 Orlando Pirates 6 6 4 FC Platinum 6 2 Source: CAF |
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Knockout stage | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Horoya | 5–0 | 0–0 (A) | 5–0 (H) | Quarter-finals | CS Constantine | 6–3 | 3–2 (A) | 3–1 (H) |
| Mamelodi Sundowns | 2–1 | 2–1 (H) | 0–0 (A) | Semi-finals | TP Mazembe | 1–0 | 1–0 (H) | 0–0 (A) |

## Format

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs determined by the knockout stage draw, which was held on 20 March 2019, 20:00 CAT (UTC+2), at the Marriot Hotel in Cairo, Egypt.

If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would have been applied, and if still tied, extra time would not have been played, and a penalty shoot-out would have been used to determine the winner.

## Matches

### First leg

| Wydad AC | Espérance de Tunis |
| - | - |
| GK | 26 | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti |
| RB | 28 | Abdelatif Noussir |
| CB | 3 | Achraf Dari | 28' |
| CB | 29 | Cheick Comara |
| LB | 22 | Ayoub El Amloud | | 77' |
| RM | 7 | Mohamed Ounajem |
| CM | 4 | Salaheddine Saidi |
| CM | 6 | Brahim Nekkach (c) | 42' 49' |
| LM | 11 | Ismail El Haddad |
| CF | 18 | Walid El Karti | | 63' |
| CF | 9 | Michael Babatunde | | 62' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Badreddine Benachour |
| DF | 8 | Badr Gaddarine | | 77' |
| MF | 21 | Zouhair El Moutaraji |
| MF | 24 | Yahya Jabrane | | 63' |
| FW | 17 | Badie Aouk |
| FW | 20 | Ayman El Hassouni | 90+4' | 62' |
| FW | 25 | Gabriel Okechukwu |
| Manager: ||
| Faouzi Benzarti ||
| GK | 1 | Moez Ben Cherifia | 84' |
| RB | 22 | Sameh Derbali | 68' |
| CB | 5 | Chamseddine Dhaouadi | 23' |
| CB | 12 | Khalil Chemmam (c) |
| LB | 20 | Ayman Ben Mohamed |
| CM | 30 | Franck Kom | | 87' |
| CM | 15 | Fousseny Coulibaly |
| RW | 8 | Anice Badri |
| AM | 25 | Ghailene Chaalali | 26' |
| LW | 10 | Youcef Belaïli | | 90+5' |
| CF | 29 | Junior Lokosa | | 88' |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 23 | Ali Jemal |
| DF | 6 | Mohamed Ali Yacoubi |
| DF | 26 | Houcine Rabii |
| MF | 17 | Hamdou Elhouni | | 90+5' |
| MF | 18 | Saad Bguir | | 87' |
| MF | 28 | Mohamed Amine Meskini |
| FW | 11 | Taha Yassine Khenissi | | 88' |
| Manager: ||
| Moïne Chaâbani ||
| Assistant referees: Waleed Ahmed (Sudan) Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria) Fourth official: Bernard Camille (Seychelles) | Match rules 90 minutes. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used. |

### Second leg

| Espérance de Tunis | Wydad AC |
| - | - |
| GK | 19 | Rami Jridi |
| RB | 22 | Sameh Derbali |
| CB | 6 | Mohamed Ali Yacoubi |
| CB | 12 | Khalil Chemmam (c) |
| LB | 20 | Ayman Ben Mohamed |
| CM | 15 | Fousseny Coulibaly | 10' |
| CM | 30 | Franck Kom |
| RW | 8 | Anice Badri |
| AM | 18 | Saad Bguir |
| LW | 10 | Youcef Belaïli | 42' | 61' |
| CF | 11 | Taha Yassine Khenissi |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 23 | Ali Jemal |
| DF | 24 | Iheb Mbarki |
| DF | 26 | Houcine Rabii |
| MF | 17 | Hamdou Elhouni | | 61' |
| MF | 28 | Mohamed Amine Meskini |
| FW | 14 | Haythem Jouini |
| FW | 29 | Junior Lokosa |
| Manager: ||
| Moïne Chaâbani ||
| GK | 26 | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti |
| RB | 28 | Abdelatif Noussir (c) |
| CB | 30 | Mohamed Nahiri |
| CB | 29 | Cheick Comara |
| LB | 22 | Ayoub El Amloud |
| DM | 4 | Salaheddine Saidi |
| RM | 11 | Ismail El Haddad |
| CM | 18 | Walid El Karti |
| CM | 24 | Yahya Jabrane |
| LM | 17 | Badie Aouk |
| CF | 20 | Ayman El Hassouni |
| Substitutes: ||
| GK | 12 | Badreddine Benachour |
| DF | 8 | Badr Gaddarine |
| MF | 2 | Anas El Asbahi |
| MF | 9 | Michael Babatunde |
| MF | 21 | Zouhair El Moutaraji |
| FW | 19 | Amin Tighazoui |
| FW | 25 | Gabriel Okechukwu |
| Manager: ||
| Faouzi Benzarti ||
| Assistant referees: Djibril Camara (Senegal) El Hadji Samba (Senegal) Fourth official: Joshua Bondo (Botswana) | Match rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if tied on aggregate and away goals. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used. |
