Sunshine placed in group of death.

Sunshine Stars of Nigeria will commence their CAF Champions League group phase with a home match against defending  Champions, Esperance of Tunisia. Etoile du Sahel and ASO Clef of Algeria are the other teams in group A. Etoile du Sahel won the title in 2007 after losing to Al Ahly the previous year. Sunshine Stars overcame Djoliba FC of Mali by 2-1 on aggregate. The Nigerian campaigners survived a big scare in the second round when they lost 4-1 against Recreativo de Libolo of Angola. Sunshine were able to win the return leg by 3-0 at the Dipo Dina Stadium in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. Dolphins FC were sent out of the competition in the second round. Last year, Sunshine got to the semi final stage of the CAF Confederations Cup.
The commencement date for the group phase of the Champions League is July 6th, 2012.