CAF Champions League: Esperance, Al Ahly, Mazembe Get Tough Pairings

The continent’s juggernauts will have some head cracking to do after being fielded in tough groups in the African Champions League group draws.

Tunisia’s Esperance who are title holders will need to get out of a tough opponent-packed group having been seeded in pool B comprising one-time tournament winners Orlando Pirates of South Africa, a stubborn Guinea Conakry’s AC Horoya and Zimbabwe’s FC Platinum who also won the Zimbabwean Premier Soccer League.

Al Ahly of Egypt, serial winners of the African Cup, are drawn with Tanzania’s Simba FC in group D who are, on paper, minnows of the pool despite being finalists in 1993 and winning the East African country’s premier league a whopping 19 times.

The same group D also has Algerian vice-champions JS Saoura and DR Congo’s AS Vita Club, making it a tricky affair in this pool.

The Ravens, popularly known as TP Mazembe, do not seem to have an easy grouping having landed in pool C. The Champions of DR Congo’s league and the most followed side on facebook in the Central African country will have to fight their way out to victory against their opponents Club Africain of Tunisia, Algeria’s defending champions CS Constantine and Ismaily of Egypt.

Lobi Stars of Nigeria are the obvious underdogs in the Group A along with Ivory Coast’s ASEC Mimosas, with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club the pool’s big guns.

Esperance won the title in November following a dramatic 3-0 comeback win over Al Ahly in the second-leg after the Egyptians had led 3-1 in Cairo in the first meeting.