CAF Champions League
Enyimba, Remo Stars among home sides seeking reverse upsets in Champions League 2nd legs
After a highly entertaining opening round of the CAF Champions League 1st Preliminary Round, clubs are preparing for yet another action-packed weekend of African club football.
The opening round saw some interesting results and upsets this past weekend, setting up another round of ties that fans of the African game can look forward to.
After holding on to a narrow 1-0 victory in Ghana, Medeama SC travel to Nigeria with a slim advantage ahead of their return leg with Remo Stars at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne.
In Zambia, Power Dynamos host Namibia’s African Stars after a 2-1 first leg loss in Soweto.
Dynamos will not only be looking at getting a result at Ndola’s Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, but also aiming at getting a confidence boosting win ahead of their start to the Zambian Premier League next week.
A match to certainly look forward to this weekend is without a doubt Al Ahli Benghazi’s trip to Aba in Nigeria where they will face Enyimba.
The two sides produced one of the most electrifying high-scoring fixtures last weekend that concluded in a 4-3 victory for the Libyan’s who will have their work cut out in Aba.
Moving over to Cote d’Ivoire, TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2023 hosting venue, Yamoussoukro Stadium plays host to Asec Mimosas against Coton Sport of Benin.
The two sides played out to a goalless draw in the first leg, paving the way for another tightly contested match where both sides will be going all out for the result.
In the northern parts of the continent, Tunisian giants, Etoile du Sahel travel to the Chahid Hamlaoui Stadium in Constantine, Algeria with a 2-0 cushion to face CS Constantine.
While the Tunisians carry somewhat of a comfortable lead, the hosts will be buoyed by the highly vocal fans of Constantine who are known to create an intimidating atmosphere in their full voice.
A similar uphill task awaits Uganda’s Vipers SC, who will be aiming at reversing a 2-0 loss suffered at the hands of Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy last weekend.
Fortunately for The Venoms, they will be at their St Mary’s Stadium home base in Kampala which should give them a slight advantage.
Further down the continent, former champions (1995) Orlando Pirates welcomes Comoros’ Djabal FC with a slender 1-0 advantage following a successful trip to the Islanders last weekend.
CAF Champions League Fixtures | 24 – 27 August:
Thursday, 24 August 2023
- Gaadiidka 0-2 APR FC
Friday, 25 August
- Bumamuru 5-1 CS de Bendje
- Al Merrikh SC 0-0 AS Otoho
- Orlando Pirates 4-0 Djabal FC
Saturday, 26 August
- Power Dynamos vs African Stars
- Green Mamba vs UD do Songo
- Etoile du Sahel vs SC Constantine
- AS Far vs ASKO De Kara
- Young Africans vs ASAS Djibouti
- Vipers SC vs Jwaneng Galaxy FC
Sunday, 27 August
- Generation Foot vs Haifa FC
- LISCR FC vs Bo Rangers FC
- Remo Stars FC vs Medeama SC
- Saint George SC vs KMKM SC
- FCB Nyasa Big Bullets vs Dragon FC
- Enyimba vs Al Ahli Benghazi
- Asec Mimosas vs Coton Sport Benin
- Coton Sport FC de Garoua vs AS Real De Bamako
- Al Ahli Tripoli vs FC Nouadhibou
- AS Vita Club vs CD Primeiro de Agosto
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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