CAIRO, May 4, 2018 (News Wires) - The 2018 CAF Champions League campaign resumes Friday night with two matches, as Egyptian giants Al-Ahly will take on Tunisian club Esperance Sportive at Borg El-Arab Stadium at 9:00pm Cairo Local Time (CLT), while Township Rollers of Botswana will be at home to KCCA of Uganda in the other kickoff. The Al-Ahly vs Esperance encounter, in the first round of the tournament's group stage, is a repeat of last year's quarter-final. Al-Ahly beat Esperance in both legs (4-3 on aggregate) en route to the final where they eventually lost to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco. Both teams are strong favourites to go through to the knockout stages, but how they start the campaign will determine if they're good enough to progress. Al-Ahly is brimming with confidence having recently won the Egyptian Premier League. Al-Ahly is unbeaten in their last seven matches against Esperance in all competitions, but the Tunis giants have lost just once in their last 12 CAF Champions League encounters. Interestingly, Al-Ahly, who boast eight CAF Champions League titles to Esperance's two, has suffered just one defeat in their last 13 home matches in the competition. Elsewhere, Township Rollers will get their first taste of CAF Champions League group stage football when they welcome KCCA of Uganda to Gaborone. The Botswana giants have previously failed to get passed the qualifying rounds, but they managed to achieve that this season, thanks to coach Nikola Kazavic, who continues to be linked with a possible move away from the club.
