With teams having found out their groups for this season's CAF Champions League, a former Al Ahly star has insisted that Mamelodi Sundowns will find it difficult to progress to the knockout stage.
The draw for what is considered by many to be the most prestigious competition on the continent took place in Cairo yesterday, with matchday one of the group stage set to kick off on 26 November.
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Orlando Pirates find themselves in Group C, in which they will be going up against Egyptian giants Ahly, Khanyisa Mayo's CR Belouizdad and Stade d'Abidjan of the Ivory Coast.
The Brazilians, meanwhile, were drawn in Group B alongside Morocco's Raja Club Athletic and AS FAR, and DR Congo outfit AS Maniema Union.
While the South African outfit travelled a long way in last season's edition of the tournament, reaching the semi-finals before they were knocked out by Esperance Sportive de Tunis, former Al Ahly star Ahmed Fathy believes that may not be the case for them this time around.
Speaking on television show OnTime Sports, the 39-year-old gave his thoughts on how the competition will shape up.
"From my point of view, the second group is the most difficult, because it includes two teams from Morocco, in addition to Sundowns, and my expectations are that the mission will be very difficult for Sundowns in the current version," the former Hull City star said, per El Watan News.
"The Al Ahly and Pyramids group is balanced, and I certainly hope that the final will be between the two clubs, but the journey of the two teams will be difficult, due to the fatigue of the past season, because the league journey was long, so the coaches must prepare all their players, so the matter will not be easy at all, so there must be several plans for the coaches.
"It is difficult to judge the champion before watching some matches and the condition of all the teams, but most of the teams have a good name on the continent.
"The fans make a big difference to the clubs participating in the tournament."
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