CAF Champions League
New Champions League season kicks off with high-stakes preliminary round matches
Contenders aiming to succeed Al Ahly as title holders of the CAF Champions League discovered their opponents on Thursday when the draw for the preliminary stage was held at the CAF headquarters in Cairo on Thursday.
With 54 matches scheduled to be played some exciting clashes are expected with the game between ambitious Arta Solar of Djibouti and Somalia’s Dekadaha FC set to draw attention.
Young Africans of Tanzania will face off against Burundi’s Vital’o FC while FC Nouadhibou will have to manage a challenging away match against Guinea’s Milo FC.
Al Ahly, Espérance de Tunis, Mamelodi Sundowns, Atlético Petroleos, Young Africans, and TP Mazembe are exempted from preliminary round.
The winner of the duel between El Merreikh and Gor Mahia FC will face Al Ahly, the titleholder.
Espérance of Tunisia will meet the winner of the clash between Arta Solar and Dekadaha FC in the next round. The winner of the encounter between Swallows and Fer Da Beira will clash with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Similarly, the winner of the match between Ngezi Platinium and AS Maniema will compete against Atlético Petroleos. The last exempted team, TP Mazembe, will face the winner of the match between Nyasa Big Bullets and Red Arrows.
The second round of the preliminary phases of the Champions League is scheduled for September 13-15 for the first leg matches and September 20-22 for the return legs.
Preliminary Round First Leg Matches of the Champions League
M1 & 2: El Merreikh (South Sudan) vs. Gor Mahia (Kenya)
M3 & 4: Arta Solar (Djibouti) vs. Dekadaha (Somalia)
M5 & 6: SC Villa Jogoo (Uganda) vs. Commercial Bank (Ethiopia)
M7 & 8: Vital’O FC (Burundi) vs. Young Africans (Tanzania)
M9 & 10: Azam FC (Tanzania) vs. APR FC (Rwanda)
M11 & 12: JKU SC (Tanzania) vs. Pyramids (Egypt)
M13 & 14: M. Swallows (Eswatini) vs. Fer Da Beira (Mozambique)
M15 & 16: Ngezi Platinum (Zimbabwe) vs. AS Maniema (DR Congo)
M17 & 18: Nyasa Big Bullets (Malawi) vs. Red Arrows FC (Zambia)
M19 & 20: African Stars (Namibia) vs. Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana)
M21 & 22: Disciples FC (Madagascar) vs. Orlando Pirates (South Africa)
M23 & 24: US Zilimadjou (Comoros) vs. Rangers FC (Nigeria)
M25 & 26: St Louis (Seychelles) vs. GDSE (Angola)
M27 & 28: AS Douanes (Burkina Faso) vs. Coton Bénin (Benin)
M29 & 30: AS Leopards (Congo) vs. CR Belouizdad (Algeria)
M31 & 32: Victoria UTD (Cameroon) vs. FC Samartex (Ghana)
M33 & 34: ASGNN (Niger) vs. Raja Casablanca (Morocco)
M35 & 36: AS PSI (Chad) vs. US Monastir (Tunisia)
M37 & 38: Watanga FC (Liberia) vs. MC Alger (Algeria)
M39 & 40: Red Star (Central African Republic) vs. Djoliba de Bamako (Mali)
M41 & 42: CD Mongomo (Equatorial Guinea) vs. Asko de Kara (Togo)
M43 & 44: Stade d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) vs. Teungueth FC (Senegal)
M45 & 46: Milo FC (Guinea) vs. FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania)
M47 & 48: Bo Rangers (Sierra Leone) vs. San Pedro (Côte d’Ivoire)
M49 & 50: Libyan Club 2 vs. Al Hilal (Sudan)
M51 & 52: Libyan Club 1 vs. El Merreikh (Sudan)
M53 & 54: Remo Stars (Nigeria) vs. AS Far (Morocco)
With the stage set and teams ready, the new season of the CAF Champions League promises thrilling encounters and intense competition as clubs vie for the ultimate continental glory.
-CAF
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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