FOUR clubs who have all won the competition previously, Al Ahly, Mamelodi Sundowns, Esperance and TP Mazembe, have qualified for the semi-finals of this year’s CAF Champions League.
Current holders and the most successful club in the competition’s history, Egypt’s Al Ahly, saw off Simba of Tanzania 3-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
The Cairo giants won the second leg at home 2-0 on Friday night, after beating Simba 1-0 in Tanzania in the first leg last week.
South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns also eliminated a Tanzanian club but had a tougher time against Young Africans.
The tie ended 0-0 over the two legs in Dar es Salaam and Pretoria, and the 2016 champions won 3-2 on penalties to reach a second consecutive semi-final.
Four-time winners of the competition Esperance of Tunisia also advanced on penalties after both quarter-final legs against Cote d’Ivoire’s ASEC Mimosa ended 0-0.
Esperance earned the semi-final spot after a tense shootout in Abidjan, which they won 4-2 at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium.
Democratic Republic of Congo’s TP Mazembe, who have won the competition five times, scored two late goals in the return leg away in Angola to beat Petro Atletico 2-1.
The first leg in Lubumbashi ended 0-0 and Petro Atletico were leading 1-0 in Luanda last night until the 82nd minute after which TP Mazembe struck twice, including in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
The semi-finals will be played on a home-and-away basis, with the first legs on April 19 and April 20, and the second legs a week later.
In the first semi-final, Al Ahly will face TP Mazembe, while Esperance will battle Mamelodi Sundowns in the second semi-final.
