Caf CC Preview - Teams battle to join RS Berkane in group stages

by Bertin Basson

Sunday Feb 14, 2021. 10:00

There are a total of 13 2020-21 Caf Confederation Cup play-off first-leg matches scheduled for Sunday afternoon, with teams vying to join defending champions RS Berkane in the group stages of this season’s competition.

Berkane progressed straight to the group stages following their 2-0 win over Tevragh-Zeina in the first round due to them having the best CAF 5-Year Ranking, following Gazelle’s withdrawal from the competition.

The Moroccan club won Africa’s second tier club competition for the first time with victory over FC Pyramids in last year’s final, a year after they finished as runners-up to Zamalek.

Big-spending Pyramids will be involved in the play-offs with the Egyptian club taking aim at RC Abidjan over two legs.

Record three-time champions CS Sfaxien beat AS Kigali 4-1 in Sfax on Saturday in the opening play-off fixture. There will be a further 13 matches on Sunday while the game between Primeiro de Agosto and Namungo FC has been cancelled by Caf after the Tanzanian club were reportedly quarinteed on their arrival in Luanda.

There will be at least one Nigerian team in the group stages with Enyimba and Rivers United to come to blows while two-time champions Etoile du Sahel will take on eSwatini’s Young Buffaloes.

Botswana club Jwaneng Galaxy will meet South African opposition for the second time this year in the shape of Orlando Pirates, after the suffered defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns in the Caf Champions League first round.