CAF Champions League

Excitement as five debutant clubs go on parade at new season of CAF Champions League

Published

2 years ago

September 9, 2022

Kunle Solaja

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.

CAF Champions League

CAF Champions League: Travelling teams secure victories on the road

Published

5 days ago

September 15, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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

CAF Champions League

Enugu Rangers in slim CAF Champions League win over Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca

Published

6 days ago

September 13, 2024

Kunle Solaja

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 80^th minute.

CAF Champions League

VIDEO: Controversial penalty kick remains a talking point in Remo Stars’ elimination

Published

4 weeks ago

August 26, 2024

Kunle Solaja

Benin Republic’s Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali awarded a 78th minute penalty kick that sealed Remo Stars hopes.

But for the questionable penalty kick awarded for AS FAR of Morocco in the 78^th minute of the tension-soaked CAF Champions League duel with Remo Stars on Sunday in Rabat, the complexion of the final result as well as the aggregate scorelines may have been different.

Match scoreline stood at 1-1 before the referee, Adissa Abdul Raphiou Ligali of Benin Republic, who was midway to the centre circle suddenly blew his whistle and awarded a penalty kick to the hosts.

Before then, all body contacts had been ruled against Remo Stars. Even, the Moroccans looked amused when the referee, who was off the scene suddenly ran into the penalty area and awarded a penalty kick for an incident, even if it were an infraction, happened outside the penalty box.

The award of the penalty kick and the conversion by El Amine Zouhzouh, literaly sealed Remo Stars thin hope of advancing.

The Nigerian side left it too late as they only came out to attack after their hopes had been sealed.

In starting the crucial match, their lead scorer, Sikiru Alimi and assist master, Sodiq Ismail were brought in only after the damage had been done. It was after the first goal in the 51^st minute that Alimi was brought in in the 54^th minute.