Pirates & Sundowns discover Champions League quarterfinals opponents
Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns have discovered their opponents for the CAF Champions League quarterfinals following the draw on Thursday afternoon in Doha, Qatar.
Pirates, under the leadership of Jose Riveiro, have been a prominent force in the group stages, topping the standings ahead of North African giants Al Ahly, who finished second, while CR Belouizdad and Stade d’Abidjan couldn’t make it through.
The Sea Robbers, who won the competition in 1995, are considered one of the favourites for the Champions League title following their stellar showings in the group stages.
Aiming to go through to the semifinals, Pirates will face Algerian side MC Alger, who finished as runners-up in their group.
The North African side is chasing their second crown, having won the competition back in 1976.
The Tshwane giants, on the other hand, finished as runners-up to AS FAR Rabat, thus progressing to the next stage at the expense of Raja Casablanca and Maniema Union.
This season marked Sundowns’ 12th group stage appearance in the competition and, remarkably, their 10th consecutive one. In their previous 11 attempts, they only failed to reach the knockout stages twice.
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The draw pitted them against a familiar foe, Esperance. The Tunisian giants knocked the Brazilians out in the semifinal stage last season.
Interestingly, Sundowns’ current coach, Miguel Cardoso, was managing Esperance in that previous encounter. The North African side topped its group with four wins, one draw and one loss, highlighting the challenge ahead for the SA champions.
The quarterfinals will be played over two legs, with the first leg scheduled for 1 April and 8 April 2025. Detailed fixture information, including kick-off times and venues, will be announced in due course.
FULL CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS DRAW
Al Ahly vs Al Hilal
Pyramids vs AS FAR Rabat
Mamelodi Sundowns vs Esperance
MC Alger vs Orlando Pirates
The CAF Champions League Cup quarterfinal draw commenced with a ball being drawn from the runners-up pot [Pot 1], revealing the first team.
Subsequently, one ball was selected from each of the remaining pots [Pots 2, 3, 4, & 5], excluding the pot of any team that had been in the same group as the initial runner-up, to prevent group stage rematches.
These selected balls were then transferred to an empty pot [Pot 6].
A single ball was then drawn from Pot 6, determining the opponent for the runner-up in Quarterfinal 1 [QF1].
This procedure was then repeated three times to establish the remaining quarterfinal fixtures [QF2, QF3, and QF4], each time removing the pot of the previously drawn ball to ensure unique pairings.