SA, Egyptian sides target Champions League semifinal spots

by Graeme Jackson

Monday Apr 07, 2025. 10:00

South African teams Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, and Egyptian clubs Al Ahly and Pyramids FC, will be looking to secure semifinal berths in the CAF Champions League this midweek.

The second-leg, quarterfinal fixtures will be played across the continent on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Buccaneers and the Brazilians both take slender leads into their respective ties.

Pirates will host MC Alger at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening, with Mohau Nkota’s strike giving Jose Riveiro’s charges a key 1-0 advantage.

“This is just the first 90 minutes of this round. We have to play the second half now in Orlando and everything is possible… it’s still open, we know we have to play a good game at home and try to make this result a good result for us,” said Pirates coach Jose Riveiro.

On Tuesday, Sundowns will face a testing away match at the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium against Esperance de Tunis. Miguel Cardoso’s side hold a 1-0 aggregate lead thanks to Peter Shalulile’s first-leg strike, and the Portuguese coach wants this clash to be ‘business as usual’.

The Sundowns coach noted, “My job is to make the players believe that this is a match just like other matches. So 11 players have to play football, they have the strength, they believe in the Champions League, they have won the Champions League. They know what to expect and we know what we can do.”

Tuesday also sees Egyptian sides Al Ahly and Pyramids FC take leads to Morocco and Mauritania respectively.

Al Ahly, the reigning Champions League title holders, looked very disappointed with their narrow 1-0 win over Sudan’s Al Hilal last week, as they expect an extremely difficult return game in the Blue Wave’s adopted home in Nouakchott (due to an ongoing civil war in their home country).

Pyramids, by contrast, have one foot in the semifinals thanks to their emphatic 4-1 triumph over the Moroccan Armed Forces team, ASFAR, and will be confident of getting the job done at the Honneur Stadium in Meknes.

The four aggregate winners will advance to the semifinals, which will be played on 18-19 and 25-26 April. Sundowns-Esperance and Al Ahly-Al Hilal are on one side of the draw, while the other is made up of MCA-Pirates and Pyramids-ASFAR.

CAF Champions League midweek fixtures

Times CAT

Quarterfinal, second leg – Aggregate scores in parenthesis

Tuesday 8 April

21:00: Esperance de Tunis v Mamelodi Sundowns (0-1)

21:00: ASFAR v Pyramids FC (1-4)

21:00: Al Hilal v Al Ahly (0-1)

Wednesday 9 April

18:00: Orlando Pirates v MC Alger (1-0)