Mamelodi Sundowns through to CAF Champions League semis! 

Mamelodi Sundowns have successfully made it to the semifinals of the CAF Champions League! Here’s how they did it.

Mamelodi Sundowns are through to the semifinals of the CAF Champions League following their 1-0 aggregate win over Esperance de Tunis.

The Brazilians visited Esperance with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, and managed to hold their opponents to a 0-0 in Rades on Tuesday night.

The scoreless result was enough for Sundowns to book their ticket in the semifinals of Africa’s biggest club competition.

With the stadium packed to rafters, Esperance took the game to Sundowns, as expected.

The home side were in search of an early goal to try and unsettle Sundowns and be able to play their normal game.

However, they were unable to create clearcut goalscoring chances, especially in the first half as Sundowns dominated.

Marcelo Allende gave Esperance a scare on the stroke of half-time as he rattled the crossbar with a long-range shot.

Esperance made a double substitution at the start of the second half in an attempt to find that one important goal.

And they thought they found it in the 68th minute only for the goal to be ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Sundowns then soaked up the pressure in the remaining minutes of the game, ensuring that they keep Esperance at bay.

Ronwen Williams pulled off a huge save in the dying minutes of stoppage time (nine minutes added) to deny Esperance from a free-kick.

Ultimately, the two sides played to a goalless draw; the result which favoured the South African giants on the night.

Sundowns’ CAFCL semifinal opponents confirmed!

Mamelodi Sundowns‘ CAF Champions League semifinal opponents have officially been confirmed.

This follows the conclusion of Tuesday’s quarterfinal matches where Sundowns advanced on a 1-0 aggregate win over Esperance.

On the night, the Brazilians needed a draw to seal their passage to the semifinals, and they achieved just that by holding Esperance to a 0-0 draw.

WHO ARE SUNDOWNS’ CAFCL SEMIFINAL OPPONENTS?

Now, it was common knowledge that Sundowns, provided they beat Esperance, would face either Al-Hilal or Al Ahly.

It has now been confirmed that the Tshwane giants will face old foes Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League semifinals.

Al Ahly booked their place in the semifinals by beating Al-Hilal 2-0 on aggregate over two legs.

The Egyptian giants held a 1-0 lead over Al-Hilal from the first leg, and on Tuesday, they replicated that away from home.

Now, the first leg of the semifinal between Sundowns and Al Ahly will be played in South Africa with Cairo hosting the return leg.

This will not be the first time that these two African giants meet in the CAF Champions League.

In fact, Sundowns and Al Ahly have faced off 14 times in the past. The Brazilians boast five wins to the Red Devil’s four while the other five matches were drawn.

Al Ahly are yet to beat Sundowns in their own backyard, managing only three draws and suffering four defeats in the process.

The last time Al Ahly beat Sundowns was on 15 May 2021 when they registered a 2-0 win in Cairo.

Since then, the sides have faced each other seven times with Sundowns registering four wins and three draws.