CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League draw offers mixed luck for Nigerian clubs says AFP report
Nigerian clubs Enugu Rangers and Remo Stars had mixed luck when the draws for the 2025 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds were made in Cairo on Thursday.
Enugu, back in the elite African club competition for the first time since 2017, should be too strong for Zilimadjou from the Comoros in the first round during August.
Assuming they clear that obstacle, Rangers would meet Saint Louis of the Seychelles or Esperanca Sagrada of Angola in September, and be favoured to succeed again and secure a group-stage place.
Every contender aspires to qualify for the 16-club mini-league phase as that is where prize money kicks in with minimum prize money of $700,000 (645,000 euros).
Remo, whose first Champions League appearance ended in the first round last season, must have hoped for an easier start than former title-holders FAR Rabat of Morocco.
Despite losing Tunisian coach Noureddine Nabi to South African outfit Kaizer Chiefs, FAR look capable of going far in a competition they won 39 years ago.
Remo or FAR will face a Libyan club yet to be named or vastly experienced African campaigners Al Merrikh of Sudan in the second round.
The last Nigerian winners of the Champions League were Enyimba in 2005.
Orlando Pirates, the first South African club to be crowned African champions, were drawn against debutants Disciples of Madagascar.
That seems a winnable tie for the Soweto outfit, who would then tackle African Stars of Namibia or Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana.
Galaxy stunned Pirates in the second round last season, winning on penalties in South Africa after both achieved 1-0 victories at home.
The Botswana team then caused an even bigger shock by defeating three-time CAF champions Wydad Casablanca in Morocco before fading and finishing bottom of a group.
Kenyan club Gor Mahia, who won the now defunct African Cup Winners Cup in 1987, will be expected to get past Merreikh Bentiu from South Sudan.
But success in the second round is unlikely as Gor would face record 12-time champions and title-holders Al Ahly of Egypt.
After back-to-back final victories over Wydad Casablanca and Esperance of Tunisia, Ahly are hoping to become the first club to win the Champions League three times in a row.
The other Egyptian entrants, expensively-assembled Pyramids, could face AZAM of Tanzania in a last-32 tie.
Pyramids must first get past JKU of Zanzibar while AZAM were paired in the opening round with perennial underachievers APR of Rwanda, who have been busy bolstering their squad.
-AFP
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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