Ahly meet Raja in top CAF Champions League last-eight tie
Record 10-time winners Al Ahly of Egypt will confront three-time title-holders Raja Casablanca of Morocco during April in the stand-out CAF Champions League quarterfinal tie.
They clashed at the same stage of the premier African club competition last season and Ahly won 2-1 at home and drew 1-1 away to qualify 3-2 on aggregate.
Many of the stars involved in those matches will face each other again with Ahly once again enjoying home advantage first, on April 21-22, and the return match is the following weekend.
While Raja cruised through the group stage, winning five matches and drawing the other, Ahly had a much tougher passage to the last eight.
Beaten by Al Hilal in Sudan and hammered by Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa, the Cairo Red Devils found themselves five points below the second qualifying place with two rounds left.
But thanks to the goals of Mahmoud Kahraba and Hussein el Shahat they triumphed convincingly away to Coton Sport of Cameroon and at home to Hilal to finish runners-up behind Sundowns.
Many South Africans believe the time has come for Sundowns to repeat their Champions League success of 2016, when they beat Zamalek of Egypt in the title decider.
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They will be expected to eliminate Chabab Belouizdad from Algeria in the quarterfinals, but bogey team and defending champions Wydad Casablanca of Morocco are potential semifinals rivals.
Sundowns have won only two and lost four of eight matches against the Moroccans, who face Simba of Tanzania for a last-four place.
Four-time Champions League winners Esperance of Tunisia meet the second Algerian contenders, JS Kabylie, in another all-north African clash.
The quarterfinals are set for April 21-22 and April 28-29, the semifinals for May 12-13 and May 19-20, and the dates of the two-leg final in June have not been announced.
Draws
Quarterfinals
Simba (TAN) v Wydad Casablanca (MAR, holders)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Raja Casablanca (MAR)
Chabab Belouizdad (ALG) v Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA)
JS Kabylie (ALG) v Esperance (TUN)
First legs: April 21-22; second legs: April 28-29
Semifinals
Kabylie/Esperance v Ahly/Raja
Simba/Wydad v Belouizdad/Sundowns
First legs: May 12-13; second legs: May 19-20