A history of country derbies in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League

This season sees two teams from the same country sharing a TotalEnergies CAF Champions League group as AS FAR from Morocco and compatriots Raja Casablanca compete in Group C. It is not the first time we have seen teams from the same country in the same group but remarkably the first time to have two Moroccan sides in the same pool.

The Rabat-based military side won 2-0 in away in Casablanca on matchday one.

Here is the history of the all the other ‘national’ rivalries in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

It was in 2005 that clubs from the same country were paired in Champions League group for the first time with the fierce Tunisian rivalry between Esperance Tunis and Etoile Sahel finding a new forum in the Champions League.

The pair met in their opening Group B game in Sousse and had one player each sent off in a fiery tie that ended goalless.

Esperance had yet to win a game when they clashed again in their penultimate group game, needing victory to stand any chance. Etoile were undefeated on six points and rounding in on a place in the top two and progress to the semi-finals.

The match at Rades saw Esperance’s hopes quickly take a major blow as Khaled Melliti scored after six minutes for Etoile and although Amine Ltifi equalised, the 1-1 draw spelt the end for Esperance’s hopes. Etoile went onto defeat Zamalek of Egypt in their last group fixture and top the standings with 10 points, then beat Raja Casablanca in the semi-final before losing to Al Ahly over two legs in the final.

In 2008, Cairo giants Al Ahly and Zamalek were drawn together in Group A three years after Ahly had beaten Zamalek 4-1 on aggregate in the 2005 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League semi-final.

Ahmed Hassan netted the winner Ahly beat Zamalek 2-1 in the group opener and by the time they met again on the fifth matchday, Ahly had already secured a top two finish, but Zamalek needed a victory in a tight battle with ASEC Mimosas from Cote d’Ivoire and Zimbabwe’s Dynamos to also advance.

Al Ahly took the lead but Zamalek bounced back to go 2-1 ahead when Junior Agogo scored shortly after half-time. However, the evergreen Mohamed Aboutrika equalised with 20 minutes.

Ahly went onto win the group while Zamalek finished bottom. In the semi-final, the Cairo giants edged past Nigeria’s Enyimba while success in the final over CotonSport of Cameroon was convincing.

Sudan’s perennial contenders Al Hilal and Al Merreikh were paired in Group A in 2009 and began with a derby in Omdurman that ended goalless.

Their return clash, which was the penultimate fixture for both in the group stage, was decisive for both clubs and proved a thriller with Al Hilal scoring twice in the last 13 minutes to secure a 3-1 win and go onto finish second in the group behind Kano Pillars.

Al Merreikh were condemned to bottom place, proving unable to win any of their six matches. Al Hilal lost to eventual winners TP Mazembe in the semi-final in a tie that saw nine goals scored.

For a second time in three years, Al Ahly had Egyptian opposition in their Champions League group in the 2010 edition, although this time it was not Zamalek but Ismaily instead.

Ahly hosted the club from Ismailia on matchday two and were 2-1 victors with a stoppage time winner from star defender Wael Gomaa. But by the they met again in the final fixture of Group B for both, Ahly were guaranteed progress in the competition but Ismaily out of contention.

There was a measure of consolation for Ismaily as they brat Ahly 4-2 with a double from Ahmed Ali. Al Ahly were then eliminated by Esperance in the semi-final.

The roles were reversed when Esperance Tunis and Etoile Sahel were drawn together again, this time in Group A in the 2012 Champions League.

Esperance needed a penalty from Khaled Mouelhi to win the first clash between the two teams at the Stade Olympique de Rades but their next clash in Sousse a fortnight later was abandoned due to crowd violence in Sousse, where Esperance had taken a 2-0 lead.

CAF decided to disqualify Etoile as a result and all results obtained previously by them were removed. Esperance went onto reach the final where Al Ahly edged them 3-2 on aggregate.

It was Al Ahly and Zamalek again in Group A in 2013 with Ahly finishing top and Zamalek third, missing out again. They were separated by Orlando Pirates from South Africa in second place, who would go on and lose to Al Ahly in the final.

But before that Ahly drew 1-1 with Zamalek in their group opener with Aboutrika’s penalty equalising Ahmed Gaafar’s early score. Their next clash was a 4-2 win for Al Ahly. Both of the derbies were played at El Gouna.

The 2014 edition saw two ‘home pairings’ with TP Mazembe and AS Vita Club from DR Congo in Group A and Tunisia’s Esperance and CS Sfaxien in Group B.

Mazembe and Vita finished first and second, both with eight points. Tanzania international Mbwana Samatta scored for Mazembe as they won 1-0 in Lubumbashi with the return clash in Kinshasa on matchday six ending goalless.

Sfaxien topped Group B with their only defeat coming at the halfway stage of the group competition when Esperance beat them 2-1 in Tunis with two goals in as many minutes midway through the second half. Two weeks later Sfaxien beat Esperance 1-0 courtesy of Mohamed Ali Moncer.

Sfaxien then lost to Vita in the semi-final while Mazembe were eliminated by eventual winners ES Setif from Algeria.

In the 2015 Champions League, there were an unprecedented three Algerian clubs drawn in Group B with defending champions ES Setif plus USM Alger and newcomers MC El Eulma.

USMA won the group but the other two Algerians were squeezed out of the top two places by Sudan’s Al Merreikh, who were the odd team out in the group. USMA won all four of their matches against their Algerian compatriots while Setif took four points off El Eulma.

Since, CAF has changed the regulations to prevent no more than two representatives from a single country participating in any edition of the two annual club competitions.

In 2017 the size of group stage of the Champions League was doubled to 16 teams, in four groups, and a quarter-final round added. Sudan’s Al Hilal and Al Merreikh were drawn together again but finished outside of the top two places in Group A, behind Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel and Ferroviario Beira from Mozambique.

FIFA suspended the Sudan Football Association just before their last fixtures, which meant neither side could play their final group match, which were awarded as 3–0 wins to their opponents.

The first clash between the two Sudanese sides was a 1-1 draw and the return game on matchday five saw Al Merreikh win 2-1 with a double from international striker Mohamed Abdelrahman.

MC Alger and ES Setif from Algeria shared Group B of the 2018 Champions League campaign with the two compatriots sharing away wins in their derby clashes.

MCA were 1-0 winners at Setif with the winner from French-born Algeria international Amir Karaoui coming on 89 minutes. With both sides needing a win to qualify they met on the last matchday in Algiers with Setif jumping into a 2-0 lead before the half hour mark.

MCA pulled one back from the penalty spot but still lost to finish third in the group while Setif advance to the quarter-finals, where they edged Wydad Casablanca before Al Ahly eliminated them at the semi-final stage.

The 2021-22 campaign saw three groups with clubs from the same country. In Group A it was the Sudanese pair Al Hilal and Al Merreikh again, for a third time.

They cancelled each other out with a 2-1 win for Al Merreikh first and then Al Hilal winning 1-0 at home. Al Merreikh had to play their home games in Cairo because of their stadium renovations. In Group C, Esperance topped the standings but Etoile Sahel finished out of the running in third place.

Etoile had got an upper hand in the first meeting, drawing 0-0 away in Tunis. Stadium renovations in Sousse meant Etoile hosted Esperance in Tunis and lost 2-0.

In Group D, Angola had both Petro Luanda and Sagrada Esperanca with Petro winning both clashes, which were both held at Luanda’s Estadio 11 de Novembro. Brazilian striker Tiago Azulao scored three of the four goals as Petro won 1-0 away and 3-0 at home.

It was a second year in a row that Tunisia’s top two teams – Esperance and Etoile Sahel – shared a group. Esperance opened the Group C campaign with a 2-0 win over Etoile and then repeated the feat with another 2-0 victory in the return game, which Etoile hosted in Tunis.

Esperance finished second in the group while, with only four points, Etoile were last in the standings. Esperance then went onto reach the final where they ran into old nemesis Al Ahly and finished runners-up.