The penultimate round of action in the African Champions League’s group phase proved decisive at the weekend with the matches on Friday, Saturday and Sunday contributing to six clubs ensuring themselves of a spot in the last eight.
These were the talking points from the weekend’s action
Securing progress
Al Hilal of Suan were the first to grab a quarterfinal berth after matchday four of the Champions League group campaign and were joined on the weekend by defending champions Al Ahly and their Egyptian compatriots Pyramids; last season’s runners-up Esperance from Tunisia; Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces and Orlando Pirates. The Buccaneers are top of Group C, one point ahead of Al Ahly with a showdown to come in Cairo on Saturday but with both sides guaranteed a top two finish it will only sort out who is first and who is second in the group. The Moroccan military team are also guaranteed to finish in the top two in Group B while Esperance and Pyramids cannot be overhauled in Group D.
𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐋 🔥
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 12, 2025
Orlando Pirates book their ticket to the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL quarterfinal stage 🌟⚽ pic.twitter.com/pY6eP5ibOp
Still to decide
There are two places still up for grabs, in Groups A and B. Mamelodi Sundowns need one more point to qualify to make sure of their place in the last eight after a last gasp own goal gave them victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday. They beat Maniema Union 2-1 away in Kinshasa to move up to eight points in second place in Group B, where they are three ahead of third placed Raja Casablanca, who drew in the Moroccan derby with leaders Royal Armed Forces, who have nine points. Raja now need a favour from their compatriots when the Morocco military side travel to Pretoria on Sunday. They need them to beat Sundowns convincingly to stand any chance of snatching second spot from the South African outfit, as long as they win at home to Maniema Union. It is more likely, however, that Sundowns will be aiming to finish top of the group, which they will achieve by beating Royal Armed Forces. In Group A, it is a straight showdown in Dar-es-Salaam between Sead Ramovic’s Young Africans and Mouloudia Alger on Saturday afternoon. The Algerians will qualify for the next round if they avoid defeat while hosts Yanga must win and will likely have a capacity crowd there to cheer them on.
TEMPS FORTS 📹
— TotalEnergies CAFCL & CAFCC 🏆 (@CAFCLCC_fr) January 13, 2025
Les Mamelodi Sundowns ont effectué un retour spectaculaire pour obtenir 3 points cruciaux avec un but de dernière minute contre l'AS Maniema Union. 💥#TotalEnergiesCAFCL | @Football2Getherpic.twitter.com/qWX6ReLDp0
Next step
The draw for the quarterfinals will be conducted next month but a date and venue are yet to be set by the Confederation of African Football. The group winers will be separated in the draw from the runners-up with the top placed team in the groups getting the advantage of a home match in the second leg of the last eight ties. The quarterfinal ties will be played on March 28-29 with the return game on the weekend of April 4-5.
