CAF Champions League: Previewing the semi-final encounters

The CAF will be crowning a new Champions League title holder as the 2018 tournament comes to a close. Four clubs remain in the chase for the trophy, as the semifinals of the African football spectacle begins on October 2, 2018.

Al Ahly Sporting Club will take part in the first semifinal affair, playing host to Entente Sportive Sètifienne at Cairo International Stadium on October 2.

The return leg of their tie will take place on October 28 at ES Setif's Stade 8 Mai 1945.

Clube Desportivo 1º de Agosto will play host to Espérance de Tunis in the first of their two-legged semifinal affair. They will also play on October 2, with the return leg in Tunisia being played on October 28 as well.

Al-Ahly are expected to advance from their semifinal tie with ES Setif, and they would certainly want to at least get back to the finals as they did last year. Wydad Casablanca defeated Al-Ahly in the two-legged finals by a 2 - 1 aggregate, making that the third time they finished as runners-up in the tournament.

Al-Ahly are, however, the most successful club in the history of CAF Champions League. Al-Ahly have appeared in 11 finals, taking a record eight trophies with them along the way. Egyptian clubs have taken 14 overall Champions League titles out of the 53 that have been played.

ES Setif has earned two CAF Champions League titles in their history, the most recent coming in 2014 which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the event. ES Setif are the highest ranked club from Algeria, although they are the lowest CAF ranked club (25) to have reached this year's Champions League semifinals. Unfortunately for them, Al-Ahly are ranked on top of the CAF rankings, according to Football Database.

Al-Ahly and ES Setif have clashed once before, but it was back in 2015. ES Setif came away with a 2 - 1 in their CAF Super Cup encounter.

That will naturally end up listing Al-Ahly as the favorites to advance to the CAF Champions League finals. Regardless, should ES Setif fail to advance past Al-Ahly, all four semifinalists are set to earn $800,000.

The winner of the event takes home a cool $2.5 Million, so there is plenty of reason to fight for all four teams still involved.

On the other side of the CAF Champions League semifinals, Tunisian giants Esperance appear in those same rankings as #2 in all of CAF.

Taha Khenissi has been quiet on the scoresheet for Esperance of late, despite leading all scorers in the 2017 tournament with 7 goals. Anis Badry has led Esperance with six goals scored in the competition.

Esperance have two Champions League titles to their credit, the most recent of which was won in 2011. They reached the finals the following year, but lost to Al-Ahly in the 2012 final.

Primeiro de Agosto have gone 24 straight outings without suffering a loss in all competitions. The Angolan representatives have taken their last three domestic Girabola league titles, and are making their first-ever CAF Champions League semifinal appearance this year.

Primeiro de Agosto are ranked 13th in the CAF club rankings, which is up from 18th just over a year ago. An upset over Esperance would surely increase their stock, but they will likely be the underdogs in the eyes of the oddsmakers.

If you recall, Al-Ahly locked horns with Esperance in the group stage, and in my opinion, the two are headed for another meeting in the finals. The best team in Egypt and the best team in Tunisia will find a way to keep their semifinal affairs in order, en route to creating a rematch of the 2012 CAF Champions League finals.

I previously picked Esperance to win the entire tournament. I stick to my guns and hope Esperance can hoist this trophy when all is said and done! Forza Esperance!