CAF Champions League
Moroccan derby headlines CAF Champions League Group stage kick off
The CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup remain the pinnacle of club football on the African continent and a chance for players and coaches to write their names into the history books by lifting the coveted trophies.
The Group Stage of the CAF Champions League starts for the 16 remaining teams with match day 1 on 26 November and includes some fascinating ties, not least a Moroccan Derby between Raja Casablanca and FAR Rabat in Group B.
Many of the most memorable moments in African football have come from the two elite competitions and another great chapter in the story of the game on the continent is set to be written this season.
Maniema Union from the Democratic Republic of Congo make their debut at this stage of the competition and with a tough away trip to Pretoria to face Mamelodi Sundowns in the other match in the pool.
Defending champions, Egyptian giants Al Ahly open their Group C campaign with a home clash against Stade d’Abidjan of Cote d’Ivoire, while Soweto side Orlando Pirates, playing in the pool stages for the first time since the 2018/19 season, are in Algeria at CR Belouizdad.
It will be a two-month sprint for the top two places in each of the four groups to earn a berth in the quarter-finals, with the pool stage to conclude with match day 6 on 17-19 January, 2025.
Record 12-time winners Al Ahly have lifted the CAF Champions League trophy in four of the previous five years and will be among the favourites again with their experience through the knockout rounds.
The group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup starts on 27 November and again there are some top ties to look forward to.
Holders Zamalek welcome debutants Black Bulls from Mozambique in a tough introduction for the latter, while there is also a North African showdown between CS Sfaxien from Tunisia and Algeria’s CS Constantine.
Morocco’s RS Berkane, the runners-up in 2023/24, start their pool stage campaign against another club making their debut at this stage, Angola’s CD da Lunda Sul
The quarter-finals in this season’s interclub competitions are scheduled for 28-30 March (first leg) and 4-6 April (second leg), while the semi-finals will be played 18-20 April (first leg) and 25-27 April (second leg).
View the full CAF Champions League Group Stage fixture list here.
View the full CAF Confederation Cup Group Stage fixture list here.
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCH DAYS
- Match day 1: 26 November, 2024
- Match day 2: 6-8 December, 2024
- Match day 3: 13-15 December, 2024
- Match day 4: 3-5 January, 2025
- Match day 5: 10-12 January, 2025
- Match day 6: 17-19 January, 2025
CAF CONFEDERATION CUP GROUP STAGE MATCH DAYS
- Match day 1: 27 November, 2024
- Match day 2: 8 December, 2024
- Match day 3: 15 December, 2024
- Match day 4: 5 January, 2025
- Match day 5: 12 January, 2025
- Match day 6: 19 January, 2025
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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