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CAF Confederation Cup

Confederation Cup path to Uyo is finalised today

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The second leg semifinals for the CAF Confederation Cup will take place on Sunday and the aggregate winners will book a ticket for the great final in Uyo, Nigeria.

TP Mazembe and Orlando Pirates secured first leg wins a week earlier, but Berkane and Al Ahli Tripoli have not said their last word.

Renaissance Berkane v TP Mazembe, Stade Municipal de Berkane, 19h00 GMT

Once more, Berkane suffered a bad result last week in Lubumbashi. Despite a solid match, the Moroccans lost to Mazembe late goal. An away- defeat that Florent Ibenge’s men can regret. Playing home on Sunday, Berkane will have to be realistic. They absolutely need a victory to move to the final but first, they will need to equalize on the aggregate score.

After their title in 2020, Berkane want to repeat the feat by winning CAF Confederation Cup trophy again. They will need to attack quickly against Mazembe. Almost non-existent during the first leg, forwards Chadrack Muzungu or El Bahri will be able to benefit from the support of their public.

Meanwhile, the scenario seems perfect for the Ravens. With their 1-0 victory in the first leg, they have plenty to see coming. Leave the game to Berkane who must score and proceed with counterattacks, the different strategies must be running through the head of coach Franck Dumas. But unlike Berkane, Mazembe travel quite well on the continent. With all their experience in interclub competitions, the Congolese know how to obtain results far from their base.

Orlando Pirates v Al Ahli Tripoli, Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, 16h00 GMT

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The work seems to have been done during the first. But in football, you should never take a result for granted when the match is still on. Orlando Pirates achieved the best operation by winning 2-0 last week. Even if the predictions seem now in favor of the Buccaneers, one should not bury the Liyan side too soon.

Ghanaian goalkeeper Richard Ofori is one of the greatest assets of the Pirates’ weapons. His statistics are clear with 6 games, 5 clean sheets and only one goal conceded from the penalty spot. His compatriot Kwame Prepah brings many difficulties to the opponents. The South Africans are close to another interclub final after reaching 2017 Champions League final.

Will Al Ahli Tripoli give up without a real fight? The Libyan side have had a great competition so far. But on the way, the Tripoli men have lacked resources, challenged by the Pirates who quickly scored two goals. They will now have to find solutions against a team that is difficult to move at home. But Al Ahli Tripoli have shown that they can weaken the best teams this season.

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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