CAF Champions League
NO ‘FINAL FOUR’ EVENT FOR CAF CHAMPIONS’ LEAGUE
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ditched plans to have a ‘final four’ event for this year’s Champions League to be played in one country.
It means the semi-finals, which are both Morocco against Egypt as Al Ahly play Wydad Casablanca and Zamalek take on Raja Casablanca, will go ahead with matches home and away.
The first leg matches will now be played on 25 and 26 September in Morocco and the second legs a week later in Egypt.
It will be a busy few days for Morocco who will be hosting a mini tournament for the semi-finals and final of the Confederation Cup in the same week.
A venue for the one-off final is yet to be decided and will depend on who reaches the final, which is due to be played on 16 or 17 October.
“In the principle of fairness, the final will be played at a neutral venue in the event a team from Egypt and Morocco qualify from the semis,” CAF explained in a statement.
“Consequently, the bidding process has been opened to Member Associations excluding Egypt and Morocco for the hosting of a one-off final.
“Interested Member Associations are to submit their bidding file including the venue for the match and the mandatory Government guarantee no later than 17 August 2020.
“In case the two Egyptian clubs or Moroccan clubs progress to the final, the one-off match will be played in either Egypt or Morocco with a proposed date of 16 or 17 October 2020.
“In that regard, the concerned Member Associations, Egyptian Football Association and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation have been issued a deadline of 15 August 2020 to confirm their availability.
“CAF will continue discussions with the various stakeholders on the possibilities of organizing the remaining matches of the Total CAF Champions League 2019/20 behind closed doors or otherwise.”
CAF had proposed ‘final four’ tournaments for both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup in response to football being suspended around the continent due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Confederation Cup, the second-tier continental club event, will continue as planned with a mini tournament in Morocco.
Both semi-finals will be a single match and both will be played on 22 September.
Egypt’s Pyramids will take on Horoya of Guinea in Casablanca while the Moroccan derby of Renaissance Berkane against Hassania Agadir will be played in Rabat.
Rabat will also host the final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on 27 September with all matches played behind closed doors.
CAF had hoped to organise a similar event for the Champions League but were left without host following the withdrawal of Cameroon Football Federation.
“In line with the principle of fairness, it was decided against hosting a final four in either Egypt or Morocco, whose representatives constitute the semi-finalists,” CAF said in a statement.
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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