Egypt s Ahly will have a chance to avenge their humiliating defeat by South Africa s Mamelodi Sundowns last season as both sides were paired in the African Champions League quarterfinals after the draw was made on Wednesday.
Five-time winners Zamalek, Ahly s perennial Cairo rivals, will meet defending champions Esperance of Tunisia in another mouthwatering two-legged clash in the last eight.
Ahly and Sundowns met in the same stage last season, with the South Africans claiming a stunning 5-0 home victory in the first leg, handing the record eight-time champions their worst ever defeat in an African competition.
The Red Devils won the second leg 1-0 but it was a mere consolation, with another failure in Africa s blue-riband club competition prompting much-soul searching as to why the team are struggling to recapture their glory days.
Ahly, who won their last Champions League title in 2013, appear formidable on the domestic front as they won their first 12 matches with a swagger. However, they have not been as impressive in the group stage of the Champions League, failing to win any of their away matches.
They still managed to finish second behind Tunisia s Etoile Sahel after a 1-1 draw away to Sudan s Al-Hilal in a tense match in the final round.
Zamalek, who last won the competition in 2002, will face Esperance three times in around three weeks as both sides clash in the African Super Cup on 14 February.
In the other quarter-final games, Morocco s Raja take on TP Mazembe of the DR Congo and Wydad Casablanca meet Etoile.
The winners of the Zamalek-Esperance game will meet either Raja or Mazembe while the winners of the Ahly-Sundowns match will face either Wydad or Etoile in the semifinals.
