Sundowns, Esperance renew rivalry in Champions League quarters

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Mar 31, 2025. 12:00

Mamelodi Sundowns and Esperance de Tunis will renew their rivalry in the CAF Champions League when they meet in the first-leg match of their CAF Champions League quarterfinal tie, set for the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on the afternoon of Tuesday 1 April.

Sundowns and Esperance met in the semifinals of last season’s Champions League, with the North African side prevailing (before going to lose to Al Ahly in the final) – so the Brazilians will very much see this tie as a chance to avenge that painful defeat at the hands of the Blood & Gold.

Sundowns earned their place in the final eight by finishing second in Group B behind ASFAR, while Esperance topped Group D (though only on goal difference ahead of Pyramids FC).

Where the Blood & Gold will have an advantage coming into this match is in terms of preparation time: Esperance have been inactive since a domestic league draw with JS Omrane on March 12, allowing them ample time since the international break to gear up for this clash and ensure they are fit and fresh for the trip to South Africa.

Sundowns, by contrast, had many players involved in key national team matches for South Africa and played a draining catch-up match in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinal this weekend. The quarterfinal tie against Sekhukhune United went to extra time and was only decided by a late strike from Jayden Adams – one of the players that starred for Bafana Bafana.

“I know how they [Esperance] prepare [for the] Champions League, they do everything in the country so the teams in Tunisia can play in the best conditions, they played 10 days ago, even the national team didn’t have Esperance players,” said Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso, who will be desperate to claim a victory against his former team.

In head-to-head terms, Sundowns and Esperance have met in eight previous matches (all in the Champions League), with the Blood & Gold claiming four wins compared to one for the Brazilians (plus three drawn games).

The teams met most recently in the semifinals of last season’s Champions League, with Esperance winning 1-0 both in Tunisia and South Africa (goals from Yan Sasse and Raed Bouchniba respectively) to take the tie 2-0 on aggregate.