The 2017 CAF Champions League group phase enters final day starting Friday. With no quarters berth assured for any team, a battle royale for the slots is seething.
Ahead of the fixtures, Soka25east.com takes a look at the qualifying chances per group.
Group A
Etoile du Sahel tops the group on nine points – two better than AL Merrikh whom they host at Stade Olympique de Sousse tomorrow. The initial leg in Sudan ended 2-1 in favor of the Tunisians.
A unlickly win for Merrikh will ensure both sail to the quarters regardless of the outcome between third placed Clube Ferroviario da Beira (5 points) and Al Hilal Omndurman (5 points).
The bottom two, who face-off on the same day at Al-Hilal Stadium, Omndurman, each stand a slim chance of progressing as runners up, if Merrikh lose or draw against hot favorites Sahel.
Hilal held Ferroviaruio da Beira away in the first stanza – making the rematch a closely contested affair.
Group B
USM Alger and Al Ahli Tripoli are joint top of the group on eight points each with CAPS United and Zamalek following in the third and fourth positions on six and five points respectively.
USM Alger host resurgent CAPS United at Stadium 5th July 1962 Sunday with Al Ahli Tripoli traveling to Petro Sport, Cairo to take on floundering five-time champions Zamalek on the same day.
A win for the joint leaders will guarantee them safe passage to the round of eight.
CAPS will fancy their chances against USM whom they shocked 2-1 in Harare in the first leg. The group phase debutants will be buoyed by their week five exploits in which they humiliated pre-match favorites Zamalek 3-1.
Zamalek, who were unable to finish 2016/17 Egyptian Premier League within the Champions League bracket, battled to a barren draw against Tripoli in the first stanza.
They go into the battle wounded and without a head coach – having fired Portuguese gaffer Augosto Inacio following the CAPS loss; nothing short of win will crush their slim hopes.
Al Ahli Tripoli has shown admirable determination despite playing all their home matches away from home in Tunisia. They managed to pick a vital point against USM Alger in their last outing in week five.
The Libyans will be hoping to crown their toil with a deserved quarters berth with a win against the Egyptians.
Group C
Group leaders Esperance du Tunis play host to stubborn St. George at Olympique Stadium, Rades while defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns will be home against AS Vita Club at Lucas Moripe Stadium, Pretoria.
Esperance on nine points will make the last eight with a win or a draw against the Ethiopians, whom they held 0-0 in the first leg in Addis Ababa.
Esperance failed to break bottom placed Vita (4 points) in their last outing in Kinshasa – settling to a 2-2 draw. St. George, with a point better that Vita, on the other hand were edged 1-0 by Sundowns at their backyard in the same week.
“The Horsemen” boast the leading top scorer in the competition Salhadin Said, who has netted seven times. They have also conceded just three goals – two more than Zanaco, the best defense in the campaign.
St. George will however need to dig deeper to pull a surprise in this one as the North Africans are known to be hard to crack at home.
Sundowns have blown hot and cold in this year’s run but have shown resilience and champions mentality in their last two outings, where they drew 0-0 away to Esperance and beat St. George 1-0 in Addis Ababa.
A likely win against Vita, who are already out of the competition, will see them through. “The Brazilians” were 3-1 winners in the first leg in Kinshasa.
Group D
Leaders Zanaco (11 points) MUST avoid losing to second placed Wydad Casablanca (9 points) at Mohammed V Stadium, Casablanca Saturday to stand a chance of making the last eight.
With eight-time winners Al Ahly (8 points) hosting group’s whipping boys Coton Sport at dreaded Borg El Arab, Alexandria the Zambian champions cannot afford to blink.
A win or a draw will do the trick for them. Zanaco have perfected tight defending and have only conceded once in the campaign – giving them high hopes against Wydad, who will have to be at their lethal best to break them.
They (Wydad) will be ragging after narrowly losing the first encounter 2-1 in Lusaka and will be gunning for revenge and a passage to the quarters.
The Moroccans are on a roll having thumped Coton 2-0 in Cameroon in week five – replicating a similar win against Al Ahly in the previous week.
Full Fixtures:
Friday 7
Etoile du Sahel vs Al-Merrikh
Al-Hilal vs Clube Ferroviario da Beira
Saturday 8
Wydad Casablanca vs Zanaco
Al Ahly Sporting Club vs Coton Sport
Sunday 9
Esperance du Tunis vs St. George
Mamelodi Sundowns vs AS Vita Club
USM Alger vs CAPS United
Zamalek vs Al-Ahli Tripoli
