Caf Champions League Group Stage: Al Ahly draw Sundowns again as Zamalek face Esperance |

Al Ahly have drawn Mamelodi Sundowns for the fifth year in a row, while Zamalek will meet a familiar face in Esperance in the CAF Champions League group-stages.

Reaching the final in the last three years, Al Ahly started this year’s campaign in the playoffs, in which they beat Tunisia’s US Monastir 4-0 on aggregate.

As a result, Al Ahly were among the top seeds for Monday’s Champions League group stage draw alongside Esperance, Wydad Casablanca, and Raja Casablanca.

Al Ahly were drawn into group B, which also included South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, Al Hilal of Sudan, and Cameroon’s Coton Sport.

The group is the same as the one into which Al Ahly were drawn last year, with the difference being Coton Sport instead of Al-Merriekh.

Moreover, it marks the fifth consecutive year in which Al Ahly will face Mamelodi Sundowns in the CAF Champions League.

Meanwhile, Zamalek started this year’s Champions League campaign in the first round and had to beat Elect Sport and Flambeau du Centre to reach the group-stages.

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Seeded second, the Whites knew they will have to face a top team in their quest of making it past the group-stages for the first time since 2020.

Espérance de Tunis was the team they were picked against as well as Algerian outfit CR Belouizdad and Al Merrikh of Sudan.

Zamalek were also drawn with Espérance and another Algerian club in MC Alger back in 2021, when they accused the Tunisians of throwing their game with the latter to send them out of the group.