CAF: African club competitions resume after two month break

Can record champions Al Ahly progress from the CAF Champions League group stage?

After a two month break which allowed for those national teams involved in the FIFA World Cup to prepare for that particular tournament it is back to African club competition this weekend. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League has reached its group stage with two groups of four teams battling it out for the semi-final places. The CAF Confederation Cup must play an extra round of matches before it reaches its group stage and involves sixteen teams with half of those teams being losing teams from the last round of the CAF Champions League, similar to what occurs in European club competition. Stoppage Time – International Football Blog previews the action in both competitions.

Amongst the eight teams remaining in the CAF Champions League are the record champions, Egypt’s Al Ahly, and the current defending champions, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both of these teams were kept apart thanks to the seedings and means that there’s a real chance they could face each other in the last four or even the final. TP Mazembe in Group A have been drawn with Espérance Sportive (Tunisia’s record champions and African club champions in 1994), Algeria’s ES Sétif (1988 African club champions) and Zimbabweans Dynamos FC. Al Ahly, record champions with six titles to their name, will face compatriots Ismaily FC (1969 African champions), Heartland FC from Nigeria (last year’s losing finalists) and two-time African champions JS Kabylie from Algeria in Group B. Here are this weekend’s fixtures:

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – GROUP A

16/07/2010 ES Sétif v Espérance Sportive

18/07/2010 Dynamos FC v TP Mazembe

CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE -GROUP B

18/07/2010 Heartland FC v Al Ahly

18/07/2010 Ismaily v JS Kabylie

Can Tunisia's CS Sfaxien win their third CAF Confederation Cup in four years?

After two rounds in the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa’s equivalent of the UEFA Europa League or Copa Sudamericana, there is a further play-off round before the competition enters its group stage. Eight drop-outs from the CAF Champions League enter the tournament at this stage and hope to keep their interest in African club competition alive for this season. After the defending 2009 champions Stade Malien were knocked out in the second round the favourites for the tournament are Tunisia’s CS Sfaxien, who won trophy in 2007 and 2008 and are looking for a third title in four years although Stade Malien’s conquerors FUS Rabat may well fancy their chances after taking such a scalp. Here is the draw for the third round with the Champions League drop-out teams on the left-hand side in every case:

Ittihad (Libya) v Primeiro de Agosto (Angola)

Al-Hilal (Sudan) v CAPS United (Zimbabwe)

Al-Merreikh (Sudan) v ASFAN FC (Niger)

Atlético Petróleos (Angola) v CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)

Zanaco FC (Zambia) v Enyimba FC (Nigeria)

Gaborone United (Botswana) v Haras El Hadood (Egypt)

Supersport United (South Africa) v FUS Rabat (Morocco)

Djoliba FC (Mali) v CR Belouizdad (Algeria)

First Leg: 16-18 July; Second Leg: 30 July-1 August