CAF Champions League: JSK and Simba in search of exploits against Wydad and Esperance
The Simba SC. © Courtesy of CAF Team
Text by: Ndiasse Sambe Follow
2 min
JS Kabylie, threatened with relegation in its championship, opens the ball of the quarterfinals of the Champions League against Esperance of Tunis this Friday, April 21. On Saturday, Simba SC will aim for the feat against Wydad, defending champions, pending the clash in Cairo between Al Ahly and Raja Casablanca.
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A few hours after the celebrations of the end of Ramadan, the heart will certainly not be at the party for the Sports Youth of Kabylie who receives Esperance of Tunis this Friday evening for the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League. JSK, legend of Algerian football, is indeed advancing in this meeting weighed down by its worries in the Championship.
The former winner of the Champions League (1981 and 1990) is second to last in the Algerian Ligue 1 after losing 10 matches in 19 rounds. The priority of the club currently is necessarily the maintenance to avoid a historic relegation. A boon for the SSE? The Tunisians, on the other hand, are leaders of the play-off tournament in their national championship with three wins in three matches and come with all their strength in Kabylia.
Raja and Sundowns, only unbeaten
On Saturday, Tanzanian club Simba Sports will try the feat by hosting the defending champions, Wydad Casablanca. Currently second in the Tanzanian league behind Young Africans, Simba was not successful in the group matches against the other Casablanca club, Raja who beat him twice (3-0; 3-1).
The Raja, precisely, will have a lot to do in Cairo by going to challenge Al Ahly, the record holder of titles (10) and finalists of the last three editions. But the Egyptian giant was not at its best in group matches and qualified only on the last day thanks to its victory against Al Hilal (3-0). And Raja advances with guarantees thanks to an almost faultless course in the group games with 5 wins and a draw in six games.
The last quarter will pit the Algerians of Belouizdad against the South Africans of Mamelodi Sundowns. The Southerners, 2016 African champions, were the only unbeaten, along with Raja, in the group stage. Undisputed leaders of the South African championship with 16 points ahead of the second Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi is the favorite in front of CR Belouizdad who will play its third Champions League quarter-final in its history.
The shift program:
Friday, April 21 (GMT)
19pm: JS Kabylie (Algeria)- ES Tunis (Tunisia)
Saturday, April 22
13pm: Simba SC (Tanzania)- Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
19pm: Al Ahly SC (Egypt)- Raja Casablanca (Morocco)
CR Belouizdad (Algeria)- Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
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- CAF Champions League
- Football
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