African Champions: Wydad and JS Kabylie complete qualification. And Sundowns provides a service for Ahli
Wydad Sportive of Morocco, the defending champions, and JS Kabylie of Algeria joined the quarter-finalists of the African Champions League football competition, after the first drew with host Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo negatively, and the second beat its guest Petro Atletico of Angola 1-1. South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns did a great service to Egypt's Al Ahly, after dropping hosts Al Hilal in a 1-10 draw in the fifth round of the group stage.
After losing the opening to JS Kabylie, Wydad became the first to qualify for Group A, as it raised its score to <> points, behind Al-Shabiba by direct confrontation, and Petro Atletico comes third with four points, while Vita remained at the bottom of the standings with four points as well.
On the other hand, Mamelodi Sundowns, the guarantor of his qualification since the previous round, kept the hopes of Al-Ahli, who holds the record number of titles (10), after he returned with a 1-1 draw from the land of its host Al-Hilal of Sudan at the "Blue Jewel" stadium in Omdurman. Sundowns maintained the lead of Group B with 11 points, a point ahead of Al Hilal, and Al Ahly, the winner on Friday over Cameroon's Coton Spor with a clean four, comes third with seven points and Coton fourth without a score. Al-Ahli needs to win any result to reach the next round, while Al-Hilal is enough to draw. The Sudanese team missed the opportunity after its international player Athar Al-Taher missed a penalty in the last minute.
Congolese coach Florent Ebenge bemoaned the chances his team missed, saying: "We played a big game against Sundowns and it is not easy at all, as we faced a very difficult opponent." "We played differently to play better and faster, but in the second half they scored against us after a mistake from the goalkeeper and we missed the chance to qualify by missing the penalty." Regarding the decisive match against Al Ahly, Ibengui said that "it is very difficult because we will play away from home, but we will do what we can to qualify."
Raja Sportive secured Morocco's top spot in Group C by drawing 1-1 with Uganda's Vipers in Kampala in Group C. The Moroccan team went into the match with a semi-reserve squad after securing a quarter-final finish since the last round, with Tunisian coach Munther Kabir opting to rest his starters in preparation for the next clash in the local tournament in exchange for some new faces such as Hussein Rahimi and Zakaria Labib. In the same group, Tanzania's Simba clinched the second card after sweeping Guinea's Houria 7-13 in Dar es Salaam. Raja maintained the lead with 9 points, ahead of Simba by <> points, to secure the two qualifying tickets to the quarter-finals, while Guinea's Horia Conakry comes third with four points and the last Vipers with one point.