The African Champions League semi-final fixtures first leg will be held on 19 April with Orlando Pirates of South Africa vs Pyramids FC of Egypt while South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns plays Egypt’s defending champions Ahly SC.
The second leg will take place on 25 April.
The four semi-finalists will battle for a place in the two-legged final scheduled for May and June.
The final four teams were confirmed following an intense round of quarter-final fixtures that showcased the very best of African club football.
For the first time in the competition's modern era, South Africa and Egypt will each be represented by two clubs in the semi-finals, setting up two heavyweight North vs South African clashes. Record 12-time champions Ahly continued their pursuit of an unprecedented 13th crown with a 2-0 aggregate win over Al Hilal of Sudan.
They face Sundowns who edged Tunisia’s Esperance Sportive de Tunis 1-0 over two legs in what has become one of the great modern rivalries in African football.
Orlando Pirates secured their semi-final place after a hard-fought goalless draw at home to MC Alger, building on their first-leg 1-0 win in Algiers. This result sees the South African giants return to the semi-finals of Africa’s premier club competition for the first time since 2013.
Pyramids FC, meanwhile, made history by reaching the CAF Champions League semi-finals for the first time in their history. Despite a 2-0 second-leg defeat to Morocco’s FAR Rabat, their emphatic 4-1 first-leg triumph in Cairo was enough to see them through 4-3 on aggregate.
In the second tier Confederation Cup, Tanzanian giants Simba SC overcame a two-goal first-leg deficit to knock Egypt’s Masri out in dramatic fashion, winning 4-1 on penalties after a 2-0 win in regulation time in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday 9 April. The result ended Masri’s hopes of returning to the Confederation Cup semi-finals, a stage they last reached in 2018. For Simba, it marked a major milestone as they head into the semi-finals where they will meet surprise outfit Stellenbosch of South Africa.
Sihle Nduli scored his first CAF Confederation Cup goal in the 79th minute to give Stellenbosch a stunning 1-0 win at title-holders Zamalek of Egypt, and a spot in the semi-finals after a 0-0 first leg stalemate in Cape Town also held on 9 April.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 17 April, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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