CAF Champions League
Excitement as five debutant clubs go on parade at new season of CAF Champions League
There are five clubs who will be making debut as the new season of the CAF Champions League kicks off this Friday.
The season begins with the first preliminary round matches being played across the continent.
Burkina Faso’s Rail Club de Kadiogo will be returning to the Champions League for the first time since 2006 and they will take on Ghanaian giants Asante Kotoko in the first match of the new season in Ouagadougou.
Defending champions Wydad Athletic Club of Morocco and compatriots Raja Club Athletic, Tunisia’s Esperance, record champions and last season’s losing finalists Al Ahly, DR Congo’s TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns have all been exempted from the first round.
CAFOnline.com looks at the first round in perspective, and what to expect as the new interclub season rolls off.
Debutant Teams:
Zalan FC (South Sudan) – Zalan, based in the South Sudanese region of Rumbek are playing the Champions League for the first time in their history after their maiden victory in the Premier League last season. They begin their campaign at home and will face Tanzania’s Young Africans.
ASN Nigelec (Niger) – Ningelec won the Nigerien Premier League for the first time ever and booked their maiden sojourn to the Champions League. They have one prior continental football experience, having played in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2014, where they lost to Algeria’s CS Constantine 4-3 in the first round. They will take on another debutant, Guinea’s Academie SOAR who won the title last season.
Flambeau du Centre (Burundi) – The Gitega based team clinched their first ever league title after a 2-1 final day victory over Athletico New Oil Academy. They thus qualified to represent Burundi in the Champions League for the very first time. They will take on Libya’s Al Ittihad in the first round.
Watanga FC (Liberia) – Watanga clinched the Liberian premier League title for the first time ever and will make their Champions League debut. They travel to Nigeria for a first round date against seasones side Rivers United.
Associaçao Black Bulls (Mozambique) – The Mozambican club won the top flight for the first time ever and earned a debut in continental football, with a ticket to the Champions League. They will take on experienced Angolan side Petro de Luanda in the first preliminary round.
Here is the schedule:
* All times are in GMT
Friday 09 September 2022
Time Match Venue City
- 16:00 Rail Club de Kadiogo (Burkina Faso) – Asante Kotoko (Ghana) Stade de Yamoussoukro Yamoussoukro
Saturday 10 September 2022
- 12:30 Volcan Club de Moroni (Comoros) – La Passe FC (Seychelles) Stade Moroni Malouzini Moroni
- 13:00 APR FC (Rwanda) – US Monastirienne (Tunisia) Huye Stadium Huye
- 13:00 Zalan FC Rumbek (South Sudan) – Young Africans (Tanzania) National Stadium Dar Es Salaam
- 13:00 Cape Town City FC (South Africa) – AS Otohô (Congo) Athlone Stadium Cape Town
- 13:00 Red Arrows FC (Zambia) – CD Primeiro de Agosto (Angola) Heroes National Stadium Lusaka
- 13:00 Nyasa Big Bullets FC (Malawi) – Simba SC (Tanzania) Bingu National Stadium Lilongwe
- 14:00 Matlama FC (Lesotho) – Coton Sport (Cameroon) Free State Stadium Mangaung
- 14:30 ASO Stade Mandji (Gabon) – Plateau United FC (Nigeria) Stade de la Rénovation Franceville
- 15:00 Olympic Real de Bangui (CAR) – Vipers SC (Uganda) Stade Alphonse Massamba Debat Brazzaville
- 15:00 CD Mongomo (Equatorial Guinea) – Djoliba AC (Mali) Estadio de Mongomo Mongomo
- 15:30 ASN Nigelec (Niger) – SOAR (Guinea) Stade Général Senyi Kountché Niamey
- 16:00 BO Rangers FC (Sierra Leone) – CR Belouizdad (Algeria) Samuel Kayon Doe Sports Complex Paynesville
- 16:00 KMKM SC (Zanzibar) – Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) Amaan Stadium Zanzibar City
Sunday 11 September 2022
Time Match Venue City
- 13:00 Saint George SC (Ethiopia) – Al Hilal (Sudan) Bahir Dar National Stadium Bahir Dar
- 13:00 Flambeau du Centre (Burundi) – Al Ittihad (Sudan) Azam Complex Dar Es Salaam
- 13:00 CFFA (Madagascar) – Royal Leopards FC (Eswatini) Stade Kianja Barea Antananarivo
- 14:00 Arta Solar 7 (Djibouti) – Al Merrikh (Sudan) Stade El hadj Hassan Gouled Djibouti Ville
- 15:00 Rivers United FC (Nigeria) – Watanga FC (Liberia) Adokiye Amiesimaka International Stadium Port Harcourt
- 16:00 Coton Sport Benin (Benin) – ASEC Mimosas (CIV) Stade de l’Amitié, Mathieu Kérékou Cotonou
- 16:00 ASKO de Kara (Togo) – FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania) Stade de Kegue Lomé
- 16:00 Gaborone United SC (Botswana) – AS Vita Club (DR Congo) National Stadium Gaborone
- 17:00 Casamance FC (Senegal) – JS Kabylie (Algeria) Stade Lat dior Thiès
- 13:00 Associaçao Black Bulls (Mozambique) – Petro Luanda (Angola) Estadio Nacional de Zimpeto Maputo
Sunday 18 September 2022
Time Match Venue City
- 15:00 Elect Sport (Chad) – Zamalek (Egypt) Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium Yaoundé
Clubs that received bye to Second Preliminary Round
- Al Ahly (Egypt), Esperance (Tunisia), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Raja Club Athletic (Morocco), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco).
- Besides Horoya AC (Mali) is qualified for the next round following the withdrawal of Gambia’s Hawks FC.
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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