National champions Ferroviário da Beira take on Mbabane Swallows of Eswatini tonight in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the African Champions League.

The Beira "locomotives" will make their debut in the 2024-25 edition of the Afro Cups, in a match that kicks off at 7pm at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, which belongs to the Tswane Municipality (Pretoria) and has a capacity for 28,900 spectators.

According to Challenge newspaperThe "locomotives", who have been in South Africa since Wednesday, had their only rehearsal on the "Lucas Moripe" pitch yesterday, where they will be looking to win today to settle the tie at home.

The winner of this knockout round will meet the mighty Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa, who are exempt from this stage due to their ranking.

Interestingly, the venue for today's match, the alternative stadium of the Mbabane Swallows, who don't have a pitch approved for international matches in their country, is also one of the homes (along with Loftus Versfeld) of Sundowns, who await the winner of this knockout round.

Today's match, the first ever between the two sides, will be directed by Ethiopian referee Ashebir Wordofa, who will be assisted by Tigle Belacheu and Fasika Yehualashet. Manuhe Woldetsadik will be the fourth official.

The match will have South African Bennett Bailey as CAF commissioner.

The second leg will take place on August 25 at the ABB Sports Complex in Tchumene. Both Ferroviário da Beira and Mbabane are looking for their second appearance in the Champions League group stage. The national champions were there in 2017, while the Swatis were there in 2018.

(Photo DR)