{"id":12993,"date":"2025-10-16T15:10:34","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T13:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jhb-webdevelopers\/channelafrica\/news\/caf-champions-league-second-round-set-for-exciting-continental-clashes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T14:26:07","slug":"caf-champions-league-second-round-set-for-exciting-continental-clashes","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/caf-champions-league-second-round-set-for-exciting-continental-clashes\/","title":{"rendered":"CAF Champions League second round set for exciting continental clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The road to the group stage of the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League 2025\/26 reaches its final hurdle this weekend as the first leg matches of the Second Preliminary Round take place across the continent from October 17 to 19.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This stage welcomes continental heavyweights while several teams ride the momentum gained from the opening round, setting the scene for a series of compelling clashes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Egypt\u2019s record 12-time African champions Al Ahly will kick off their campaign on the road against Aigle Noir of Burundi. Coach Jess Thorup\u2019s squad will be eager to make a strong start to their title defence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One of the standout fixtures will see Nigeria\u2019s Remo Stars face South African powerhouse Mamelodi Sundowns. The West versus South continental clash is expected to be a fiercely competitive encounter between two of the most dynamic clubs in their respective regions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8212;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12994,"template":"default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-12993","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The road to the group stage of the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League 2025\/26 reaches its final hurdle this weekend||The road to the group stage of the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League 2025\/26 reaches its final hurdle this weekend","published_date":"2025-10-16 17:09:16||2025-10-16 17:09:16","news_description":"The road to the group stage of the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League 2025\/26 reaches its final hurdle this weekend||The road to the group stage of the TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League 2025\/26 reaches its final hurdle this weekend","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18325,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12993\/revisions\/18325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}