Egyptian rivals Al Ahly and Zamalek have been drawn together in the group phase of the African Champions League.

The Cairo giants will face each other in Group A, alongside South Africa's Orlando Pirates and debutants AC Leopards of Congo.

Last year's losing finalists, Esperance of Tunisia, have been drawn in Group B alongside Coton Sport of Cameroon.

Sewe Sport of Ivory Coast and Recreativo de Libolo of Angola are the other teams in the group.

It is the second year running that Ahly, the reigning champions and favourites to win record-extending eighth title this year, have been placed in the same group as their neighbours Zamalek.

Celtic have taken French defender Steven Mouyokolo, who's eligible for Congo, on trial.

The 26-year-old centre-back has been handed an opportunity to impress Neil Lennon and his coaching staff and has been training with Celtic's first team squad at their Lennoxtown complex.

Mouyokolo, who is a free agent after his contract with Wolves was terminated by mutual consent in January, counts Hull City and Sochaux among his former clubs.

The player began his career with Chateuaroux in French Ligue 2 before spells at Guegnon and Boulogne.

Goalkeeper Senzo Meyiwa inspired Orlando Pirates to the group stages of the Orange Caf Champions League despite losing 1-0 to TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Pirates go through by virtue of the superior goal aggregate, having beaten Mazembe 3-1 in the first leg played at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.

Meyiwa saved two penalties to help a Pirates team that had skipper Lucky Lekgwathi sent off hold on till the final whistle.

The Buccaneers full-back Patrick Phungwayo was yellow carded in the 30th minute, setting the mood for what was a tense game

The 2012 Orange CAF Confederation Cup champions, AC Leopards of Congo edged Algerian side ES Setif 5-4 on penalties to reach this season’s Orange CAF Champions League group phase after the sides had finished 4-4 on aggregate.

ES Setif won the second leg 3-1 on Friday night in Setif , Algeria after losing by the same score to Leopards a fortnight ago in Congo.

Leopard’s Rudy Ndey scored the game's opening goal and ES Seif looked like they had a mountain to climb trailing at home but goals from Akram Djahnit and a brace from Mourad Delhoum took the tie into extra time.

Record four-time African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o scored for Russian big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala at the weekend on his return from a knee injury.

However, the Cameroonian star could not prevent Dynamo Moscow fighting back to force a 3-3 draw and leave Anzhi third in the table, 10 points behind leaders CSKA Moscow with five rounds left.

Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon was on target for the second consecutive week, with his late first-half goal giving lowly Sunderland a 1-0 home victory over Everton.

ENGLAND

Title holders Ahly of Egypt kept Tunisian side Bizertin at bay to settle for a goalless away draw on Sunday in a CAF Champions League third round tie.

Only 1,500 fans were allowed to attend the game at Stade 15 Octobre due to security concerns, but the vociferous fans provided the only zeal in an otherwise dour game.

Ahly, who are seeking to win a record-extending eighth Champions League title, will be favourites to advance to the group stage when they host Bizertin in the second leg in a fortnight.

The game was preceded by riots in Bizerte after the Tunisian outfit were disqualified from the national league, a decision that led to clashes between their fans and police.

The Golden Eaglets of Nigeria returned to winnings ways with an emphatic 7-0 victory over Congo during the last Group B match played in Marrakech on Saturday.

Congo played for about an hour with nine men after two expulsions in on 32nd and 39th minutes but Nigeria was already 2-0 up at the time of the first expulsion.

The win took Nigeria into the semi-finals of the CAF U-17 Championship and also ensured qualification for the FIFA World Cup to be played in October and November in United Arab Emirates.

The match was only three minutes old when Kelechi Iheanacho hooked home with his left boot for the opening goal from inside the box. A cross from the right sailed over everyone in the box and Musa Yahaya sent back into the box a low cross which Iheanacho converted into the match’s first goal.

SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams saved a late penalty as the South African side claimed a 0-0 draw against ENPPI in Egypt in their CAF Confederation Cup second round, first leg on Friday night.

The home side were awarded a spot-kick on the stroke of 90 minutes, but Williams, who has been outstanding this season for Matsatsantsa, stood firm to make the save.

“It’s a great result for us away from home, they are the best team we have played in this competition so far,” SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt said.

Bevan Fransman saw his early effort well saved by the home goalkeeper, while Grant Kekana was forced to clear off the line.

Kano Pillars centre-back, Ikechukwu Gabriel believes they have learned their lessons after being eliminated by AC Leopards of Congo from the Caf Champions League.

Gabriel claims they were intimidated and harassed from the minute they arrived Brazzaville up to the last kick of the game in the 3-0 second leg defeat, and that it contributed immensely to their downfall.

He insists they may have survived the ordeal had they been psychologically prepared for that sort of treatment.

"I'm not one that complains after every defeat, but I have never gone through anything like what we experienced in Congo," he told supersport.com.

There are five former African champions among the 16 hopefuls entering the final qualifying round this weekend for the CAF Confederation Cup.

And FAR Rabat and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Etoile Sahel of Tunisia and Ismaily of Egypt are favoured to win two-leg ties and reach play-offs against CAF Champions League last-16 losers.

CS Sfaxien of Tunisia have also experienced continental glory, being the only club to successfully defend the Confederation Cup, the second-tier African club competition loosely modelled on the Europa League.

Also in action will be US Bitam of Gabon, who scored a record 17 goals in a preliminary tie, and Liga Muculmana of Mozambique, whose 7-1 thrashing of Nigerian visitors Lobi Stars in Maputo was totally unexpected.