The focus for this weekend’s final round of African Champions League group matches will be firmly fixed on fixtures in Dar-es-Salaam, Casablanca and Pretoria, with two more places in the next round still to be decided.
Already six of the eight quarterfinal slots have been filled but there are four teams in contention for the other two berths in what will be an exciting weekend finale.
In Group B, Mamelodi Sundowns and Raja Casablanca are still in the running to take a top two berth alongside the already-qualified Royal Armed Forces.
Sundowns need only draw to advance, when they host the Morocco military team at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday (kick off 6pm) as they have a three-point advantage over third placed Raja Casablanca.
But should Sundowns lose, then they open the door for Raja to slip into second place at their expense. Raja would have to beat Maniema Union from DR Congo by at least two goals in their match in Casablanca, which kicks off at the same time as the tussle in Pretoria.
Should Sundowns win, they will finish top of Group B which offers them an advantage when they go into next month’s draw for the knockout stages.
They came from behind for a 2-1 victory at Maniema Union in Kinshasa last weekend to make matters a lot easier for themselves.
In Group A, it is a straight shootout in the Tanzania capital on Saturday (kick off 3pm) when Young Africans host Mouloudia Alger in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd.
HIGHLIGHTS 📹
— TotalEnergies CAFCL & CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC) January 15, 2025
With a powerful strike, Aziz Ki kept @YoungAfricansSC's quarterfinal dreams alive against Al Hilal SC. 🚀#TotalEnergiesCAFCL | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/uHRs0F25RM
The permutations are simple. Yanga, coached by former TS Galaxy boss Sead Ramovic, must win the tie while the visiting Algerians must avoid defeat to progress.
There is a single point between Yanga (7) and MC Alger (8) after five matches with Al Hilal of Sudan (10) having already booked their slot.
Yanga had lost their opening two matches in Group A but bounced back to take four points off former continental champions TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo and then kept alive their hopes by ending Al Hilal’s unbeaten run with a shock away win last Sunday.
MC Alger fired French coach Patrice Beaumelle in mid-December but are unbeaten since former Tunisia international Khaled Ben Yahia took over.
In Groups C and D the two sides who will advance have already been decided but top place is still up for grabs.
Orlando Pirates have a tough assignment away in Cairo in the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL this weekend 👀
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 16, 2025
They've dominated when playing Al Ahly away.#SSDiski pic.twitter.com/kQTyaK86ll
Orlando Pirates take on Al Ahly in Cairo on Saturday (kick off 6pm) in Group C and the unbeaten Buccaneers will finish first in the standings if they avoid defeat to the defending champions, who they have beaten twice before in Egypt in previous editions.
In Group D, Esperance of Tunisia and Egypt’s Pyramids both have 10 points as they share top place, and both finish their group fixtures at home. Last season’s runners-up are home to Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca in Tunis on Saturday while Pyramids host Djoliba in Cairo.
Should they both win, then Esperance will finish top as they have a better head-to-head record over Pyramids.
