CAF Champions League
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: BIG GUNS TAKE THEIR SPOTS FOR 9 OCTOBER DRAW
The ‘men have been separated from the boys’ as all but one of the last 16 teams for the group stage of the CAF Champions League was decided at the weekend. The draw for the group stage will take place on Wednesday, 9 October 2019 in Cairo, Egypt.
Nine teams who have lifted the Holy Grail of African club football at least once including holders Esperance of Tunisia are among the teams through.
The Blood and Gold survived a scare from Chadian opponents Elect Sport, coming from behind to win 2-1, and 3-2 on aggregate to achieve a fourth successive appearance at the group stage.
They are joined by compatriots Etoile du Sahel, who despite finishing with ten men overturned a 2-0 loss from the leg against Ghana’s Asante Kotoko, beat the latter 3-0 in Monastir to go through.
South African champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, winners in 2016 made the biggest headlines, with a 11-1 drubbing of Cote d’Or of Seychelles, a result which went into history as the biggest ever in the history of the competition. The Brazilians maintained their record of having reached the group stage since 2016.
Moroccan duo, Raja Club Athletic and Wydad Athletic Club, both former winners, are also through.
The last time the two sides were at the group stage together was in 2011, with Wydad going all the way to the final before losing to Esperance 1-0 on aggregate.
After an eight-year absence, JS Kabylie of Algeria, winners in 1981 and 1990, are back to the group stage, joined by rivals, USM Alger, losing finalists in 2015.
Five-time champions, TP Mazembe from DR Congo made light work of Fosa Juniors of Madagascar with a 3-1 to seal their third successive group stage berth. And they have company in eternal rivals and 1973 winners, AS Vita, who also made it three in a row at the last 16.
Record eight-time winners, Al Ahly of Egypt have qualified for the group stage for the fifth season on the trot. They achieved the feat after beating Equatoguineans Cano Sport 4-0 to complete a double 6-0 on aggregate.
Away from former winners, Angola has two representatives in rivals, Petro Atletico and Primeiro de Agosto whilst El Hilal (Sudan), FC Platinum (Zimbabwe) and Zesco United (Zambia) complete the list.
The last slot is expected to emerge from the Zamalek of Egypt versus Senegal’s Generation Foot match, which did not hold.
-Cafonline
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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