CAF Champions League final four revealed today

by Graeme Jackson

Saturday Apr 13, 2019. 09:29

The semifinal berths for the CAF Champions League will be decided this afternoon and evening, with four second-leg, quarterfinal matches to be played across the continent.

The action starts in Lubumbashi in the DR Congo this afternoon, where TP Mazembe will host Tanzania’s Simba SC. The first-leg game ended 0-0 in Dar es Salaam last weekend, giving the Ravens the advantage as hosts for this deciding clash. However, Wekundu wa Msimbazi will know that any score draw will favour them on the away goals rule.

The action moves to Cairo in the early evening, where Al Ahly have the monumental task of trying to overturn a 0-5 deficit against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns. The Red Devils look unlikely to pull off the miracle and it could bring to an end the tenure of Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte, who was moved to issue an apology to the club’s fans at the end of the first leg in Tshwane.

Two night games from North Africa wrap up the quarterfinals. In Rades, Tunisia’s Esperance de Tunis (the competition title holders) will be confident of sealing progression against Algeria’s CS Constantine. The Blood and Gold won 3-2 away in the first leg thanks to goals from Youcef Belaili, Fousseny Coulibaly and Mohamed Ali Yacoubi, and overall victory seems an inevitability for the hosts at the Olympic Stadium.

Things are much more evenly balanced ahead of the clash between Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca and Guinea upstarts Horoya AC at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. The first leg in Conakry ended 0-0, leaving WAC in danger of losing out on the away goals rule should the game end in a score draw.

CAF Champions League fixtures, second-leg quarterfinals

All times CAT, aggregate score in parenthesis

Saturday 13 April

15:00: TP Mazembe v Simba SC (0-0)

18:00: Al Ahly v Mamelodi Sundowns (0-5)

21:00: Wydad Casablanca v Horoya AC (0-0)

21:00: Esperance de Tunis v CS Constantine (3-2)