Nick Said, Special to ESPN 6y

CAF fixtures bring mixed news for SA clubs

With the Confederation of African Football (CAF) set to release the draw for the Champions League and Confederation Cup this week, the dates for the 2018 competitions provide a mixed bag for South African clubs.

Although, the fixtures for the tournaments are not so much a draw in the traditional sense, but rather an orchestrated selection of opponents based on geographical circumstances for the preliminary rounds, and then, who knows what after that.   

South Africa will have four sides competing, BidVest Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns in the Champions League, and SuperSport United and debutants Cape Town City in the Confederation Cup. 

One major change has been made to the scheduling of the tournament this time around, though - there will now be a two-and-a-half month break in the middle of the year to allow for the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The first round of group games will be on May 4-6, with the second only on the weekend of July 27-29.

This will give South African clubs a generous break and proper pre-season, which will be most welcome, especially for the likes of Sundowns, who have not had a rest for almost three years.

But there is a significant rider to that, and while coaches and players may breathe a sigh of relief, they will pay for it later down the line.

That is because the start of the new Premier Soccer League (PSL) season is expected to be a tough one mess any teams that make the pool stages.

There will be three rounds of pool fixtures in August alone, when the PSL already juggles the league and MTN8. Four out of five weekends in late September and through October is set aside for quarterfinals and semifinals, if South African sides make it that far.

It is a grueling schedule and for clubs still in contention, it will mean they have a massive backlog of league games to complete, which will severely hamper their chances of success in the competition.

CAF have made no mention yet of when they will switch the timing of the competition from February to November, which so many teams find disruptive to their domestic commitments, to the August to May schedule.

This was decided at the CAF Congress in Morocco earlier this year, but implementation looks like it will be in 2019 at best.

With a South African club having appeared in a continental final in four of the last five years, it seems likely that one or more will be in contention come the semifinals.

It has been the source of some frustration from the PSL that CAF have taken so long to make these dates known, as they try to manage their fixtures for the second half of the current season, and look ahead to 2018/19 as well.

Now they know what they are up against, it is going to take some nifty planning to fit everything in to the second half of next year.   

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

First round, first leg - February 9-11
First round, second leg - February 16-18
Second round, first leg - March 9-11
Second round, second leg - March 16-18
Group phase match day one - May 4-6
Group phase match day two - July 27-29
Group phase match day three - August 10-12
Group phase match day four - August 24-26
Group phase match day five - August 31, September 1-2
Group phase match day six - September 14-16
Quarterfinal, first leg - September 28-30
Quarterfinal, second leg - October 5-7
Semifinal, first leg - October 19-21
Semifinal, second leg - October 26-28
Final, first leg - November 2-4
Final, second leg - November 9-11

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP

First round, first leg - February 9-11
First round, second leg - February 16-18
Second round, first leg - March 9-11
Second round, second leg - March 16-18
Third round, first leg - April 6-8
Third round, second leg - April 13-15
Group phase match day one - May 4-6
Group phase match day two - July 27-29
Group phase match day three - August 10-12
Group phase match day four - August 24-26
Group phase match day five - August 31, September 1-2
Group phase match day six - September 14-16
Quarterfinal, first leg - September 28-30
Quarterfinal, second leg - October 5-7
Semifinal, first leg - October 19-21
Semifinal, second leg - October 26-28
Final, first leg - November 23-25
Final, second leg - November 30, December 1-2

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