Sunday’s thrilling first-leg quarter-final between record African champions Al Ahly and Tunisia’s Espérance Sportive de Tunis, which ended in a 1-0 win for the visitors, has set the tone for what promises to be a gripping weekend of return fixtures in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2025/26.
Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Ahly will be involved in Act 2 on Friday, 21 March at 21:00 (19:00 GMT).
The race for the semi-finals of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League remains wide open after an action-packed first leg of the quarter-finals, with Mamelodi Sundowns the only side to establish a clear advantage ahead of the decisive return matches this week.
South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns produced the standout result of the first-leg round, defeating Mali’s Stade Malien 3-0 in Pretoria to move within touching distance of a third successive semi-final appearance.
The result leaves Sundowns firmly in control, although Stade Malien will hope to respond strongly on home soil in the second leg.
Elsewhere, defending champions Pyramids FC earned a valuable 1-1 away draw against Morocco’s AS FAR in Rabat, leaving the tie delicately balanced ahead of the return leg in Cairo.
Another evenly poised contest saw Morocco’s RS Berkane rescue a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Sudan’s Al Hilal Omdurman. With the second leg to be played at a neutral venue, little separates the two sides going into the final 90 minutes.
In Rades, Esperance Sportive de Tunis claimed a narrow but significant 1-0 victory over record title winners Al Ahly SC in one of African football’s most storied rivalries.
Despite the result, Al Ahly will draw confidence from their home record and remain very much alive in the tie ahead of what promises to be another intense meeting at Cairo International Stadium.
The first-leg matches underlined the competitiveness and quality of this season’s quarter-finals, with all the clubs still dreaming of a place in the last four.
The second legs, to be played between 21 and 22 March, will decide the semi-final line-up.
With one tie leaning strongly in Sundowns’ favour and the other three still hanging in the balance, the stage is set for another compelling chapter in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2025/26.
2025/26 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League – Quarter-final second-leg fixtures (All times in GMT)
Friday, 21 March16:00 – Pyramids FC (Egypt) vs AS FAR (Morocco)
19:00 – Al Ahly SC (Egypt) vs Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)
Saturday, 22 March
16:00 – Al Hilal Omdurman (Sudan) vs RS Berkane (Morocco)
16:00 – Stade Malien (Mali) vs Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
