Libya will be the unlikely setting when the African Champions League group phase kicks off today.
Al-Ittihad are the first club from the north African country to get this far and they host two-time title-holders JS Kabylie of Algeria in Tripoli to launch a 24-fixture pool program involving eight clubs.
Esperance of Tunisia face ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast at Al-Menzah Stadium in Tunis the following evening, followed by FAR Rabat of Morocco against Etoile Sahel of Tunisia at Moulay Abdallah Stadium in the Moroccan capital.
The first round finishes on Sunday evening, when defending champions Al-Ahly of Egypt, chasing a record third consective title, play Al-Hilal of Sudan at the 80,000-capacity Cairo Stadium. FAR and Etoile look a cut above their rivals in the weaker Group A and Ahly, ASEC and Esperance should slug it out for the two semi-finals slots from Group B, where even outsiders Hilal look no pushovers.
Only the bravest pundit would predict the likely champions at this stage, especially as the coach of obvious choice Ahly admits his star-laced squad are weary after endless domestic and international commitments.
Manuel Jose from Portugal rested his entire first-choice line-up for the closing fixtures of the national championship, including midfield maestros Mohamed Aboutraika and Mohamed Barakat.
Hilal may be new kids on the Champions League group block, but they are one of just four clubs to defeat Ahly in their Cairo fortress, achieving the feat three years ago thanks to a Richard Gastin goal.
Gastin remains part of a squad coached by Brazilian Ricardo Ferreira, whose array of Sudanese stars is bolstered by Mozambican midfielder Dario Khan and Nigerian striker Kelechi Osunwa.
Most leading African clubs boast a "foreign legion" and Ittihad are no exception with Serb coach Branko Smiljanic choosing from a squad that includes Brazilian, Burkinabe, Cameroonian and Guinean imports.
Kabylie were a bitter disappointment at the same stage last year, amassing just four points of a possible 18, although Mali-born Oumar Dabo is a threat given his ability to score consistently at this level.
FAR and Etoile renew an explosive rivalry after a stormy end to the second tier African Confederation Cup final last year, which the Tunisians won on away goals after two draws.
Moroccan fury at a disallowed injury-time second-leg goal led to Tunisian police having to rescue the South African referee and the man in the middle this time, Malian Komlan Coulibaly, will hope for a more peaceful time.
With Ahly the probable group winners, the fixtures between Esperance and ASEC assume added importance with the team taking the most points set to reach the semi-finals of a competition offering a one million dollar first prize.
Esperance must overcome domestic close season "rust" while the visitors are experiencing unusually poor national league form with two draws and a loss in their last three outings.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later