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CAF Champions League

LOBI STARS, RANGERS AIM TO GO FURTHER IN AFRICA

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BY APESIN ADEMOLA.

The campaign to have Nigerian clubs register impressive results in CAF club competitions sees Lobi Stars and Enugu Rangers on the road as two tournaments conclude the first leg of their first round matches this weekend.

Lobi Stars, the Nigerian Premier Football League champions, will take the field on Sunday at the Moi International Sports Complex, Nairobi against Kenya’s dominant club Gor Mahia, while Rangers have their turn earlier on Saturday in Sidi Bel Abbès, Algeria against USM Bel Abbès.

The Ortom Boys, as Lobi Stars are fondly called in honour of Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom, navigated Cameroon’s UMS de Lou 2-1 aggregate in the preliminary round, losing 0-1 away in the first leg.

Also known as the “Pride of Benue”, Lobi Stars are up against a Gor Mahia team which boost of experience in continental competitions. K’Ogalo won the African Cup Winners Cup in 1987 and have featured in that competition (now known as CAF Confederation Cup) seven times.

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Gor Mahia were defeated at this stage in this same competition last edition by eventual champions Espérance, and would strive not to have a repeat experience having not gone past the quarterfinals in all 12 times of qualifying for the tournament, whether as CAFChampions League or as African Cup of Champions Clubs.

Kenya’s most successful club with 17 Premier League crowns struggled through the preliminary round to qualify to face Lobi Stars. A lone goal victory over Malawi’s Nyasa Big Bulletsi n Nairobi on November 28 was followed by the same margin of defeat in the reverse fixture. The Kenyan squad had to go through nail-baiting penalty shootouts to survive.

In recent time, Gor Mahia have played English PremierLeague side Everton losing 0-4 at Goodison Park, while also losing the Kenyan SuperCup match to Kariobangi Sharks 0-1. Zedekiah Otieno’s team started the defence of their Premier League title with a 1-2 defeat by to Bandari on December 8 but returned four days later to beat Zoo Kericho 4-0 to lead the table having played two matches as against one by their hot chasers.

For Gor Mahia fans however, there is the concern of a brewing players’ revolt which Lobi Stars may capitalise on. Two days to the fixture, the players threatened to down boots over unpaid salaries.

“We might skip the match and give them (Lobi Stars) a walkover. This is becoming too much. Can you imagine staying without salary and they want you to perform on the pitch?” a top player, who sought anonymity told Goal.com.

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Lobi Stars have not played too many competitive matches as the NPFL current season is yet to commence. Apart from the two fixtures against their Cameroonian opposition, the only other game by the Makurdi-based side was the 1-0 victory in the NFF SuperCup against Rangers on November 20.

Coach Solomon Ogbeide and  his team will be reminded that the only other time they ever participated in this competition in 2000, they reached the group stage but finished third behind compatriots Heartland as well as Ghana’s Heart of Oaks and Al-Ahly of Egypt.“Of course, we know that Gor Mahia are a very big club from Kenya but the business…is the match on the field of play and Lobi Stars are also a big team,”Ogbeide boasted in an interview with cafonline.com.

For Rangers, it was easy passage from the preliminary to the first round. Ethiopia’s Defence SC fell apart 2-0 in Enugu and 3-1 in front of their fans.

The Flying Antelopes were African Cup Winners Cup way back in 1977, having reached the final of the African Cup of Champions Clubs two years earlier. In all, Rangers have featured in the Champions League (including when it was the African Cup of Champions Clubs) 10 times.

Rangers’ opponents USM Bel Abbès won this year’s Algerian Cup to qualify for this competition but are currently 10th in the domestic Ligue 1.They had played much of their life in the lower division.

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Bel Abbès were in the African Cup Winners Cup in 1992, exiting in the second round. This is their first time in Africa since that competition was merged with the then CAF Cup to form the CAF Confederation Cup in 2004.

In the preliminary round, USM Bel Abbès beat Liberia’s LISCR FC 4-1 aggregate.

While the aggregate winners in the Champions League will go ahead to do battle in the 16-team group stage of four teams per group, the losers will descend to the Confederation Cup to face winners of the competition’s first round matches in the playoff, which will decide the 16teams for the group phase.

Saturday’s fixtures…

2018/19 CAF Champions League (First round first leg): 

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  • JS Saoura (Algeria) v Ittihad Tanger (Morocco) (5:45pm)
  • Stade Malien (Mali) v ASEC Mimosas (Côte d’Ivoire) (6pm)
  •  Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) v ASC Diaraf (Senegal) (7pm)
  •  Orlando Pirates (South Africa) v African Stars FC (Namibia) (7:15pm)

2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup (First round first leg): 

  • USM Bel Abbès (Algeria) v Enugu Rangers (Nigeria) (4pm)
  • Étoile du Sahel (Tunisia) v Stade d’Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) (4pm)
  • Kariobangi Sharks (Kenya) v Ashante Kotoko SC (Ghana) (1pm)
  •  KCCA (Uganda) v Mtibwa Sugar (Tanzania) (2pm)
  •  Al-Ahli Tripoli (Libya) v New Star FC (Cameroon) (2pm)
  • Green Eagles (Zambia) v NA Hussein Dey (Algeria) (2pm)
  •  Al-Masry (Egypt) v Salitas FC (Burkina Faso) (3.30pm)
  •  DC Motema Pembe (DR Congo) v FC San Pédro (Côte d’Ivoire) (3:30pm)
  • RS Berkane (Morocco) v Al-Ittihad (Libya) (5pm)
  • Al-Hilal Al-Ubayyid (Sudan) v Mukura Victory Sports (Rwanda) (5:30pm)
  • Zamalek (Egypt) v AS CotonTchad (Chad) (6pm)
  • CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) v Green Buffaloes (Zambia) (6pm)
  • Kaizer Chiefs (South Africa) v ASSM Elgeco Plus (Madagascar) (7:15pm)

Sunday’s fixtures…

2018/19 CAF Champions League (First round first leg): 

  • Gor Mahia (Kenya) v Lobi Stars (Nigeria) (2pm),
  • AS Vita Club (DR Congo) v Bantu FC (Lesotho) (2:30pm)
  • AS Otôho(Congo Republic) v FC Platinum (Zimbabwe) (3:30pm)
  • Ismaily (Egypt) v Coton Sport (Cameroon) (4pm)
  • Al-Ahly Benghazi (Libya) v Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) (4pm)
  • TP Mazembe (DR Congo) v ZESCO United (Zambia) (4:30pm),
  •  Club Africain (Tunisia) v Al-Hilal (Sudan) (5pm)
  • Nkana (Zambia) v Simba (Tanzania) (11pm)

2018/19 CAF Confederation Cup (First round first leg): 

Raja Casablanca (Morocco) v Cercle Mbéri Sportif (Gabon) (5pm)

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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CAF Champions League

Enugu Rangers crash out of Champions League

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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.

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CAF Champions League

CAF Champions League: Travelling teams secure victories on the road

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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-CAF

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CAF Champions League

Enugu Rangers in slim CAF Champions League win over Angola’s Sagrada Esperanca

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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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