There will be a show of force by North African clubs in the CAF Champions League this weekend with nine of the 16 survivors from the region.
Among them are defending champions Entente Setif, one of three Algerian sides involved in last-16, first-leg fixtures.
Record eight-time African champions Al Ahly, the Egyptian outfit who have twice won the competition in successive seasons, are also involved.
Algerians El Eulma and USMA, Tunisians Esperance and CS Sfaxien, Moroccans Raja Casablanca and Moghreb Tetouan and Egyptians Smouha complete the nine-prong challenge.
Regional derbies guarantee three North African qualifiers for the group phase and there could be six.
Eulma and Sfaxien, Tetouan and Ahly, and Raja and Setif square off, USMA host Guineans Kaloum, and Esperance and Smouha are away to Sudanese El Merrikh and Congolese AC Leopards respectively.
Sanga Balende have home advantage over Sudanese Al Hilal and fellow Democratic Republic of Congo club TP Mazembe confront Stade Malien in Mali in the only matches with no North African involvement.
Clubs from the north have dominated the Champions League since its 1997 debut in place of the African Champions Cup, producing 12 of the 18 title-holders.
Top-class goalkeepers, well-organised defences and an ability to snatch precious away goals are factors that have contributed to this success story.
Good talent-spotting in sub-Saharan Africa has also contributed, with the goals of Nigerian Ighodaro Christian Osaguona propelling Raja into the final qualifying round.
Tall, thin and sporting a mohican hairstyle, Osaguona is joint leading scorer in the 2015 Champions League with five goals.
The predator scored twice against Congolese Diables Noirs and claimed all three goals against South Africans Kaizer Chiefs.
A close-range header off a free-kick in Durban, and a toe-poke and an unstoppable shot in Casablanca stamped the 24-year-old as a rising star.
Setif visit Raja without goalkeeper Sofiane Khedairia, suspended after feigning injury to avoid playing a last-32 game against Real Banjul in Gambia.
Central Africa Republic and Raja midfielder Vivien Mabide admits there is huge pressure on the 'Green Devils' to build a first-leg lead.
"Only success in Africa can save our season after failing to win any domestic trophies," he said.
Visiting Ahly need to contain the other leading Champions League scorer, 29-year-old Mouhcine Iajour, whose five Tetouan goals included a hat-trick against Nigerians Kano Pillars.
Goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy, whose father was also an Ahly shot-stopper, will hope to foil Iajour, and two blank sheets against Rwandans APR in the previous round can only boost confidence.
Former Burkina Faso and Gabon coach Portuguese Paulo Duarte makes his CAF club debut with 2006 Champions League runners-up Sfaxien at Eulma.
It is a tie the Tunisians are expected to win, and the same applies to two-time champions Esperance against El Merrikh.
But Merrikh coach Italian Diego Garzitto, who guided Mazembe to the 2009 title, is upbeat ahead of the first encounter in Omdurman.
"Esperance are a very good side, but we are not bad either," he said. "My players must be smart and brave. We have dreams and we will fight to achieve them."
The eight first-leg fixtures are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and the return matches will be staged two weeks later.
Overall winners advance to the lucrative group stage while the losers drop to the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup.
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