South African sides Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns will be aiming to secure semifinal berths in the CAF Champions League this midweek.
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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.
Still standing still. 🤯
— TotalEnergies CAFCL & CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) April 5, 2025
Orlando Pirates are the ONLY team yet to suffer a defeat in the 2024/25 #TotalEnergiesCAFCL. How far can their streak take them? 💫 pic.twitter.com/L3atgr5eqb
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.”
Our #TotalEnergiesCAFCL journey continues in Tunis for the second leg.🔥
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) April 5, 2025
⚽ Mamelodi Sundowns v ES Tunis
📆 08 April
⏰ 21H00
🏟 Stade Olympique De Rades
📺 SS 202 & SABC #Sundowns #RabatsenaGape pic.twitter.com/FsqEp11BXi
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.
1st leg advantages always hit different 🥳#TotalEnergiesCAFCL | #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/EPVMIJmbkW
— TotalEnergies CAFCL & CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) April 4, 2025
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)