CAF Champions League draw.. Al-Ahly and Esperance exempted from preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round of the new edition of the African Champions League resulted in anticipated matches for the Arab teams in the preliminary round of the tournament.
The draw exempted Al-Ahly of Egypt, the title holder, from the preliminary round, along with the Tunisian club Esperance, South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, Congolese club Mazembe and Angolan club Petro Atletico.
Al-Ahly is scheduled to meet in the round of 32 with the winner of the match between Al-Merreikh Juba from South Sudan and Gor Mahia from Kenya in the round of 32 of the tournament.
While Esperance will meet the winner of the match between Arta Solar from Djibouti and Dekedaha from Somalia.
Sundowns will play the winner of the match between Swallows, the champion of Eswatini, and Verda Beira, the champion of Mozambique.
Congolese Mazembe will meet the winner of the match between Malawi’s Nyasa Big Bullets and Zambian Red Arrows, while Petro Atletico will play the winner of the match between Zimbabwe’s Ngezi Platinum and Congolese Manyama.
In the round of 64 matches, Ugandan Villa Gogo will meet Ethiopian Commercial Bank, Burundi’s Vital’o will meet Tanzania’s Young Africans, and Tanzania’s Azam will meet Rwanda’s Army.
Zanzibar champions Geshe Kongenga will meet Pyramids, Namibia’s African Star will meet Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy, Madagascar’s Desplays will meet South Africa’s Orlando Pirates, and Comoros champions Zelmadou will meet Nigeria’s Rangers.
Mauritius champion Saint Louis will play against Angolan Sagrada Esperanza, Burkina Faso champion Downs will play against Benin’s Coton Sport, and Congolese Leopards will play against Algerian club Chabab Belouizdad.
Cameroon’s Victoria will play against Ghana’s Samartex, Niger’s National Guard will play against Morocco’s Raja, Chad’s Bessay will play against Tunisia’s Monastir Union, and Liberia’s Watanga will play against Algeria’s Mouloudia.
Central African champions Red Star will play against Malian club Djoliba, Equatorial Guinean champions Mongomo will play against Togolese club ASKO de Kara, and Ivorian club Stade d’Abidjan will play against Senegalese club Twengeth.
Guinean Milo will meet Mauritania’s Nouadhibou, Sierra Leone’s Bo Rangers will meet Ivorian San Pedro, Libya’s second representative (not yet determined) will face Sudan’s Al Hilal, and Libya’s first representative (also not yet determined) will face Sudan’s Al Merreikh.
Nigeria’s Remo Stars will meet Morocco’s Royal Army.