Pirates paired with Al Ahly, Sundowns get two Moroccan clubs in Caf draw

Bucs and Al Ahly met in the 2013 Champions League final, where the Egyptian outfit won 3-1 on aggregate

Orlando Pirates’ return to the Caf Champions League group stages sees them pitted against Al Ahly of Egypt and CR Belouizdad of Algeria. 

The fourth side in group C, as selected in the draw in Cairo on Monday, is Stade Abidjan of Ivory Coast. 

Pirates, the winners of what was then the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1995, are making their first group stage appearance since 2018-19. Al Ahly are record 12-time winners of the Champions League, including the last two editions and four of the last five. 

Bucs and Al Ahly met in the 2013 final, where the Egyptian outfit won 3-1 on aggregate after a 1-1 draw at Orlando Stadium in the first leg and 2-0 home win in Cairo.

Pirates became the first team to win the MTN8 three times in a row this weekend, beating Stellenbosch FC 3-1 in Saturday's final at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, which was also their fifth domestic cup trophy out of the last six in South Africa. 

They qualified for the Champions League as 2023-24 Premiership runners-up to seven-time successive league champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

Downs, the 2016 Champions League winners, are drawn in group B with 2023-24 Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca, AS FAR of Morocco and AS Maniema Union of Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In the Caf Confederation Cup, Stellenbosch FC, playing in their first continental interclub competition, are drawn in group B with 2021-22 winners and 2023-24 runners-up of the competition RS Berkane of Morocco, Stade Malien of Mali and CS Luanda Sul of Angola. 

Caf Champions League group stage draw 

• Group A: TP Mazembe (DR Congo); Young Africans (Tanzania); Al Hilal (Sudan); MC Alger (Algeria) 
• Group B: Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa); Raja Casablanca (Morocco); AS FAR (Morocco); AS Maniema Union (DR Congo) 
• Group C: Al Ahly (Egypt); CR Belouizdad (Algeria); Orlando Pirates (South Africa); Stade Abidjan (Ivory Coast) 
• Group D: Esperance de Tunis (Tunisia); Pyramids FC (Egypt); Sagrada Esperanca (Angola); Djoliba AC (Mali) 

Caf Confederation Cup group stage draw 

• Group A: Simba SC (Tanzania); CS Sfaxien (Tunisia); CS Constantine (Algeria); Bravos do Maquis (Angola) 
• Group B: RS Berkane (Morocco); Stade Malien (Mali); Stellenbosch FC (South Africa); CS Luanda Sul (Angola) 
• Group C: USM Alger (Algeria); ASEC Mimosas (Ivory Coast); ASC Jaraaf (Senegal); Orapa United (Botswana) 
• Group D: Zamalek (Egypt); Al Masry SC (Egypt); Enyimba FC (Nigeria); Black Bulls (Mozambique)