CAF Champions League
CAF CONFEDERATION CUP DRAW: ENYIMBA AWAIT EGYPT, DR CONGO OPPONENTS
BY MUYIWA AKINTUNDE.
Draw for the continent’s inter-club competitions – CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup – will be conducted this Monday evening in Cairo.
Group winners will be paired against runners-up, but teams that qualified from the same group will not go head-to-head.
Nigeria’s Enyimba, in the CAF Confederation Cup, will avoid Congo Brazzaville’s CARA Brazzaville, which finished behind the People’s Elephant in Group C. They will also not face Raja Casablanca and RS Berkane (both of Morocco) and USM Alger (Algeria).
Enyimba’s options in the quarterfinals will be limited to AS Vita Club (DR Congo), Al-Masry (Egypt) and Rayon Sports (Rwanda).
Vita Club had won the now rested African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1973 and were runners-up of that competition in 1981 and 2014, by which time it had been renamed CAF Champions League.
They finished behind Raja Casablanca in Group A of the competition this year winning three matches and drawing one from six matches.
The farthest Al-Masry had travelled in the continent were semi-final appearances in the African Cup of Winners Cup (1999) and the CAF Cup (2002).
The Egyptian side came second to RS Berkane in Group B of this year’s competition without any defeat, recording three victories and the same number of draws.
On their part, Rayon Sports crashed out in the quarterfinals of the 2002 CAF Cup. Seven appearances in the CAF Champions League have produced at best second round showing. They were runners-up to USM Alger in Group D this year pulling two wins and three draws.
Enyimba have an illustrious history in Africa, although that is fast receding into forgotten memory.
They are the most decorated club from Nigeria. Not only did they break the jinx by winning the country’s first CAF Champions League title in 2003, the team, inspired by the then Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu, successfully defended the title in 2004.
CAF Champions League (¼ finalists):
Group winners: Al-Ahly (Egypt), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Wydad Casablanca (Morocco), Étoile du Sahel (Tunisia)
Runners-up: Espérance (Tunisia), ES Sétif (Algeria), Horoya (Guinea), Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)
CAF Confederation Cup (¼ finalists):
Group winners: Enyimba (Nigeria), Raja Casablanca (Morocco), RS Berkane (Morocco), USM Alger (Algeria)
Runners-up: AS Vita Club (DR Congo), Al-Masry (Egypt), CARA Brazzaville (Congo Republic), Rayon Sports (Rwanda)
Nigeria’s sole survivor into the second round of the CAF Champions League, Enugu Rangers have crashed out of the competition. They lost 3-1 to Angola’s Sagrada Esperança this Sunday in Luanda.
The aggregate scoreline is 3-2 as Rangers last weekend won their home game 1-0. Sagrada Esperança opened the game with offensive and got their first goal barely six minutes into the game when Alexandre Fernando found the back of the net.
The hosts doubled their lead in the 33rd minute through Mussa. But four minutes later, Enugu Rangers reduced the tally to 2-1 to carry an away goal advantage into half time.
Jamie Pimpao got the much needed goal for Angola in the 67th minute to seal the hopes of Rangers.
Sagrada Esperança will now go into next month’s draw for the draw of the group stage.
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary Round action resumed on Saturday, 14 September following the resumption of the Africa’s premium club competition on Friday.
It was mostly the travelling teams that secured victories away from home on Saturday, who put themselves in fairly comfortable situations ahead of the return leg next week.
Orlando Pirates had a mental obstacle to overcome in Gaborone against Jwaneng Galaxy, having to face the same side that eliminated them in the same phase of the competition last season.
The former champions secured a 2-0 victory in Gaborone to put themselves in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next weekend.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe were away to Red Arrows in Zambia where they also put two past their hosts ahead of the return leg in Lubumbashi.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who played their away match in the comfort of their home stadium against Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows made use of home ground advantage with a comfortable 4-0 win over their neighbours.
Tanzanian champions, Young Africans secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over CBE SA of Rwanda as Tanzanian giants continue to chase a continental title.
It was a rather tough outing for Moroccan outfit, AS FAR when they travelled to Sudan to face Al Merrikh. A highly entertaining encounter concluded with a 2-2 draw, ahead of the return leg in Morocco.
Egyptian side, Pyramids FC also played out to a draw when they were held 1-1 by APR FC in Rwanda.
Burkina Faso side, Association Sportive des Douanes out up an impressive showing when they edged Algeria’s CR Belouizdad by 1-0.
The first leg of the 2nd Preliminary Round concludes on Sunday, with five interesting encounters lined up, including reigning champions Al Ahly kick starting their title defense away from home.
TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Results & Fixtures:
Friday, 13 September
Enugu Rangers 1 – 0 Sagrada Esperanca
Monastir 0 – 1 MC Alger
Saturday, 14 September
CBE SA 0 – 1 Young Africans
Red Arrows 0 – 2 TP Mazembe
Al-Merrikh 2 – 2 AS FAR
Jwaneng Galaxy FC 0 – 2 Orlando Pirates FC
Maniema Union 2 – 1 Petro de Luanda
Djoliba 1 – 0 ASKO
Douanes 1 – 0 CR Belouizdad
Sunday, 15 September
12h00 GMT | Gor Mahia vs Al Ahly
15h00 GMT | Samartex vs Raja CA
16h00 GMT | San Pedro vs Al-Hilal
16h00 GMT | Dekedaha vs ES Tunis
19h00 GMT | Stade d’Abidjan vs Milo FC
The return leg fixtures of the 2nd Preliminary stage will be played between 20 – 22 September.
-CAF
Enugu Rangers’ patchy form in the CAF Champions League continues as they struggled to beat visiting Angola’s Sagrada Esperance 1-0 in the first leg match played at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo.
It was in similar fashion that they played against Union Sportive de Zilimadjou of Comoros Islands who they beat 2-1 over two legs in Uyo.
Rangers’ lone goal was scored by Kazeem Ogunleye in the 80th minute.
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