Blockbuster African last-eight encounters await Yanga, Simba
What you need to know:
- The draw will be conducted from 9.30pm Tanzanian time. As Yanga will know their rivals in the CAF Confederation Cup, Simba will know the team that will face off in the CAF Champions League in the same stage
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s envoys in the continental club championships, Young Africans (Yanga) and Simba, today are expected to know their rivals ahead of the knockout stage of the CAF competitions.
The draw will be conducted from 9.30pm Tanzanian time. As Yanga will know their rivals in the CAF Confederation Cup, Simba will know the team that will face off in the CAF Champions League in the same stage. Yanga topped group D after collecting 13 points while Simba finished second in Group C with nine points.
As per the draw format, Yanga may face USM Alger of Algeria, Rivers United of Nigeria or Pyramids of Egypt. The three teams were placed second in groups A, B and C.
Other teams that have qualified for the stage are Marumo Gallants of South Africa, who topped group A, Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast from group B and ASFAR of Morocco from group C.
As per the CAF fixture, the quarterfinal matches have been scheduled to take place on April 23 and 30 while the semifinals will be held on May 14 and 21 respectively. Final matches have been scheduled to take place on June 4 for the first leg and June 11 for the second leg.
Meanwhile, Simba SC could face defending champions Wydad Club Athletic of Morocco in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Simba have finished second in group C with nine points from six matches, with Raja Club Athletic of Morocco topping the group with 16 points after winning five times and drawing once.
Other teams that have finished second in the remaining three groups are JS Kabylie of Algeria from group A, Al Ahly of Egypt in group B and CR Belouizdad of Algeria in group D.
Raja scored 17 goals and conceded only three in their six matches. Simba scored ten goals and conceded seven. As per CAF’s draw procedures, Simba will meet any of the top placed teams in groups A, B or D.
This means that the Msimbazi Street giants may face Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco, who topped group A, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, who topped group B, or Espérance Sportive de Tunis of Tunisia, who finished at the top of group D.
Records show that Mamelodi have never failed to qualify for the quarterfinals of Africa’s premier club championship since the 2018/19 season. They reached the semifinals once while Esperance Sportive de Tunis have won the CAF Champions League title three times in 2011, 2018 and 2019.
The team also qualified for the quarterfinals in 2020, semifinals in 2021 and in the last edition they reached the quarterfinals.
Wydad Athletic Club are the defending champions of the competition. The team have managed to win the title three times while qualifying for semis three times respectively.
