CAF Champions League
CAF Champions League: Young Africans defeat Al Merriekh in Kigali
Tanzania Premier League reigning champions Young Africans SC have registered a 2-0 win against hosts Al Merriekh in the first leg second preliminary round of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
The Sudan side hosting their matches at the Kigali Pele Stadium because of the insecurity back home started on a high, but the Young Africans managed to cool off the pressure.
Early in the match Al Merriekh’s Salaheldin Kago Mahmoud Nemer was booked for a bad challenge.
Young Africans continued to dominate play, but missed scoring opportunities through Maxi Mpia Nzengeli and Stephane Aziz Ki as the match ended goalless after 45 minutes.
After the interval Al Merriekh’s star player Brayan Edinso Angulo came all out showing some good dribbling skills, but failed to occasionally shoot at goal. Substitute Kennedy Musonda who had replaced Mudathiri Abbas Yahya Abasi gave Young Africans Sc the lead after 60 minutes.
The Tanzanian team continued to dominate play before they netted the second after 82 minutes. A clever pass by Khalid Aucho was tapped through by Aziz Ki for Clement Franses Mzize to finish.
With a two mintes left substitute Musa Hussein Musa Ali had the chance to pull back one goal for Al Merriekh, but he fumbled with the ball when he had only goalkeeper Djigui Diarra to beat.
In the other match played in Zambia another Tanzanian side Simba SC battled back to pick a 2-2 draw against Power Dynamos FC at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
Joshua Mutale gave the home side the lead after 29 minutes, but Clatous Chama leveled matters after 59 minutes. But the Power Dyanamos side kept pushing forward to make it 2-1 after 75 minutes through Cephas Mulomba. It was Chama who made sure Simba SC picked a vital draw with an equaliser three minutes into added time.
On Sunday Rwanda’s APR FC will face Egyptian side Pyramids FC in Kigali, Al Hilal (Sudan) take on Primero de Agosto away in Angola.
Sudan’s Al Hilal SC are out of the 2025/2026 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
After picking a 1-1 away draw against Morocco’s RS Berkane, Al Hilal suffers a 1-0 defeat in the return leg played on Sunday at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda.
Munir Chouiar netted the lone goal after 93 minutes to ensure RS Berkane qualified for the semi-final stage on a 2-1 goal aggregate.
Chouiar made amends after his penalty had been saved by the Al Hilal SC goalkeeper earlier in the 61st minute.
Few minutes into the second half the Sudan side thought they had taken the lead through Adama Coulibaly, but after VAR review, the goal was ruled out.
Laurentiu Regecamp, the Al Hilal SC coach said that although his team is eliminated from the competition, his team should be able to learn something from this.
RS Berkane now join other teams Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), ES Tunis (Tunisia) and another Moroccan side AS FAR in the semi-final stage.
Sudan giants Al Hilal SC collected a valuable away 1-1 draw to RS Berkane in the first leg of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League quarter finals played on Saturday night.
Omar Abdel Rahman gave the Al Hilal side the lead after 13 minutes to silence the home fans at the Municipal Stadium in Berkane.
The two sides continued to attack and create several scoring opportunities, but the first half ended 1-0 with Al Hilal SC in the driving seat.
After recess the hosts RS Berkane pushed for an equalizer throughout intensifying their attacks. Their efforts paid off seven minutes in injury time when they were awarded a penalty.
Al Hilal SC defender Steven Ebuela tackled in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. Ebuela was sent off, while Mounir Chouiar successfully converted the penalty.
The second leg will take place on March 22 at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda. The winner will face the winner between reigning champions Pyramids FC (Egypt) and Morocco’s Raja Casablanca.
Sudan Premier League giants Al Hilal SC have traveled to Morocco ahead of their first leg tie against RS Berkane in the TotalEnergies CAF Champions league.
Coach Laurentiu Reghecampf’s team traveled on Thursday ahead of the match at the Municipal Stadium in Berkane on March 14th.
“We are determined to try and get a good result I this first leg and it explains why we have also made an early trip,” says the Al Hilal coach.
Although Reghecampf considers it a very tough and tactical encounter, he is optimistic they have what it takes to register good results in the two legs. “We need to be at our best to defend and attack as a team,” he added.
To reach the quarter final stage Al Hilal SC topped Group C with 11 points after registering three wins, two draws and one defeat. RS Berkane came second in Group A with 10 points behind reigning champions Pyramids.
Al Hilal SC will host RS Berkane in the return leg on March 22nd at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda.
Al Hilal SC are currently to pf the table in the Rwanda Premier League. They opted to play in the Rwanda Premier League because of the political instability back in Sudan.
Sudan’s Premier League giants Al Hilal SC have been draw to face RS Berkane in the first quarter final match of the 2025/2026 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
In the draw conducted by CAF on Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt, Al Hilal SC will get the advantage for coming top in the group stages by playing away from home first.
The quarter-final matches are scheduled for March 13–14 (first legs) and March 20–21 (second legs). In-case the two time finalists Al Hilal SC advance to the semi-final stage, they will face the winner between AS FAR (Morocco) and Pyramids FC (Egypt).
Laurentiu Reghecampf, the Al Hilal SC coach says they will prepare well for the quarter final stage. “We must prepare well because there is no weak team in the knock out stage,” added Reghecampf.
In the other quarter final match-ups the 12 time titles winners Al Ahly SC will face Esperance, while Mamelodi Sundowns battle Stade Malien, and AS FAR take on Pyramids FC.
Quarter-final draw
RS Berkane (Morocco) vs Al Hilal (Sudan)
Esperance ST (Tunisia) vs Al Ahly (Egypt)
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) vs Stade Malien (Mali)
AS FAR (Morocco) vs Pyramids FC (Egypt)
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