South African clubs Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates have avoided each other in the quarter final draw of the CAF Champions League conducted earlier today. In quarter final three Sundowns will host Esperance of Tunisia in the first leg encounter on the 1st of April.

On the other hand, Orlando Pirates will be away to MC Alger of Algeria in the first leg of the fourth quarter final, before hosting the second leg a week later. Sundowns and Pirates have also avoided each other in the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s sole representative in the CAF Confederation Cup, and debutants Stellenbosch FC will face defending champions Zamalek of Egypt in the first quarter final.

The draw procedure for both the 2024/2025 CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup was clear and straight forward. All the four group winners were placed in the same pot, with the runner’s up placed in the other pot.

But the rules also stipulated that the group winners cannot meet a club from their group in the last phase. This simply meant Pirates and Al Ahly of Egypt, who played each other in the group stage, were not going to play each other again.

The same with Mamelodi Sundowns who finished as runner’s up in Group B were not going to face AS FAR Rabat who topped their group.

2016 Champions League Champions Sundowns will first host Tunisian giants Esperance in the first leg. The Brazilians will then travel to Tunis for the second leg to be played a week later. Esperance are the most successful club in Tunisia, having won the Champions League four times. The Tunisians last won the Champions League in the 2018/2019 season.

Orlando Pirates will travel to MC Alger in the first leg of the fourth quarter final. MC Alger were the first Algerian club to win a continental competition, winning the 1976 African Cup of Champions Clubs.

But they will be coming against Pirates, the 1995 Champions League winners. Pirates were also runner’s up in the Champions League in 2015. They made a return to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2013.

Eleven-time Champions League winners Al Ahly of Egypt will host Al Hilal of Sudan in the first quarter final.

Meanwhile, Pyramids FC of Egypt, who finished in the group stage last season, will host AS FAR of Morocco in the second quarter final.

In the Confederations Cup, debutants Stellenbosch FC were going to face any of the three group winners except RS Berkane who finished ahead of them in Group B.

Stellies will face defending champions Zamalek of Egypt in the first quarter final. Zamalek finished top of Group B, unbeaten with fourteen points.

The Egyptians won the Confederations Cup two times, first in the 2018/2019 season, and again in the 2023/2024 season.

The team from the Wine Lands will host the first leg match on the 2nd of April. The return leg will be played at the Cairo International Stadium a week later.

In the other quarter finals,  Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast will face Group B winners RS Berkane of Morocco.

Al Masry of Egypt will be at home to Simba SC of Tanzania, and CS Constantine will host USM Alger in the Algerian derby.