Orlando Pirates Chases Down History as CAF Confederations Cup Semifinal Looms Against Al Ahly Tripoli

• Orlando Pirates will look horns with Al Ahly Tripoli on Sunday evening in the first leg of the CAF Confederations Cup semifinals
• The Buccaneers are looking to become the first South African team to win the Champions League as well as the Confederations Cup
• The last time Pirates was in the final of Africa's secondary club competition was in 2015, where they lost to ES Sahel

Orlando Pirates' quest for history will continue this weekend as the club takes on Al Ahly Tripoli in the CAF Confederations Cup semifinal first leg in Libya on Sunday night.

Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns are the only South African sides to have won the Champions League and Super Cup. If the Buccaneers were to plunder the Confederations Cup trophy too, they would be the first club in Mzansi and from Southern Africa to have won all three trophies.

According to sports statistics experts OptaJabu, this was also the sixth instance that the Buccaneers had reached the semifinals of an African competition, a record extension by a South African team. These include the 1995 African Champions Cup, 1999/2000 African Cup Winners Cup, 2006/07 and 2012/13 Champions League, and 2015/16 Confederations Cup.

Obscure regulation means that CAF Confederations Cup winner can't play in Champions League

Football

Al Ahly Tripoli has started off well enough in the Libyan Premier League. The side lies in second place in Group B of the league with 24 points after 13 matches. The top two teams in Group A and Group B qualify for a semifinal and final play-off where the winner is crowned as the champions.

Pirates, co-coached by Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids, are in a spot of bother in the DStv Premiership. The team lies outside Champions League and Confederations Cup in fifth place on 40 points. The Buccaneers need to finish in second to get into the Champions League, and third to qualify for the Confederations Cup. The club can also only get into the latter by winning this season's edition of the competition.

The match will kick-off at 6 pm South African time.

Obscure regulation means that CAF Confederations Cup winner can't play in Champions League

Why Ghana will be the most difficult team to analyze in Qatar explained by 2002 World Cup icon

Football

The winner of the CAF Confederations Cup is in for a shock.

According to the continent's football governing body, they won't be playing in the Champions League next season but for a technicality in the rule book, Sports Brief reported.

The rules state that in order to qualify for the Champions League, a team has to secure a league position of first or second in the top 12 ranked leagues in Africa, and finish first outside these leagues to complete the set.