CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Will Al Merreikh, Al Hilal, Simba SC qualify for group stage?

The 16 teams that will qualify for the group stage of the 2020/2021 Total CAF Champions League will be known January 5-6th after the return legs of the first round are played.

Al Merreikh and Al Hilal from Sudan, Simba SC (Tanzania) and Kenya’s Gor Mahia are the four teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) that are still in contention.

The Sudan Premier League reigning champions Al Merreikh who carry a 3-0 advantage will face Enyimba in Aba State in Nigeria on January 6th. The team traveled on a chartered flight to Abuja before they connect on a domestic flight to Owerri and later by bus to Aba.

“A long and exhausting journey, but we are still so excited to make it through with another win,” said Al Merreikh on their twitter handle.

Another Sudan Premier League side Al Hilal will host Ghanaian side Asante Koto at their Al Hilal Stadium in Khartoum on Wednesday as well. Al Hilal won the first leg 1-0 away in Ghana.

Simba Sports Club, the Vodacom Tanzanian Premier League defending champions will also play host to Zimbabwe’s FC Platinum on January 6th at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam. FC Platinum won the first leg 1-0, but the Tanzanian giants have promised to turn tables.

“We need to keep working hard and prepare well for the return leg. The FC Platinum team managed to score in the first leg and now we have to be careful on the return leg,” says Simba SC’s head coach Sven Ludwig Vandenbroeck.

For Kenya’s Gor Mahia FC, they will have an uphill task when they host Algeria’s CR Beloulzdad in the return leg in Nairobi on Wednesday. The Kenyan giants were humbled 6-0 in the first leg.

The 16 winners of the first round of the Total CAF Champions League will advance to the group stage, while the losers drop to the Total CAF Confederation Cup to play in the play-off.