The first leg match against Nyasa Big Bullets which TP Mazembe won 1-0
* Last season’s finalists, Wydad Casablanca are in Group B with Tanzania’s Simba SC, Asec Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire and Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy
* Reigning champions, Al Ahly SC of Egypt will headline Group D with Algeria’s CR Belouizdad for a mouth-watering North-African derby
* Tanzania’s Young Africans (who finished second in the CAF Confederation Cup) will be looking at causing major upsets in the group
Maravi Express
Five-times CAF Champions League title holders, TP Mazembe — who saw off Malawi’s Nyasa Big Bullets in the second preliminary round of this year’s edition to progress — have been grouped with winners of the 2016 edition, Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa alongside with 2015 champions Pyramids FC of Egypt and FC Nouadhibou of Mauritania.
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The CAF Champions League group stage draw was held on Friday, 06 October in Johannesburg, South Africa – producing some mouth-watering fixtures for the competition as the 16 strong African football clubs have been drawn into four groups of four with the first round of fixtures scheduled for November 24-25.
Last season’s finalists, Wydad Casablanca are in Group B joined by Tanzania’s Simba SC, Asec Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire and Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy, who sent shockwaves across the continent in dispatching big clubs enroute to the group stages.
Esperance of Tunisia have been drawn in a tricky Group C which consists of Angola’s Atletico Petroleos, the unpredictable Al Hilal of Sudan as well as their country-rivals, Etoile du Sahel.
Reigning champions, Al Ahly SC of Egypt will headline Group D that consists of Algeria’s CR Belouizdad for a mouth-watering North-African derby, Tanzania’s Young Africans (who finished second in the CAF Confederation Cup) as well as Ghana’s Medeama who will be looking at causing major upsets in the group.
Tout Puissant (TP) Mazembe are the most successful club of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with five CAF Champions League titles under their belt — which they first won back-to-back in 1967 and 1968 when it was called African Champions Cup before it was renamed CAF Champions League by winning back-to-back again in 2009, 2010 and lastly clinching it in 2015.
The club made 7 appearances in the African Champions Cup from 1967 to 1988 and 18 appearances in the CAF Champions League from 2001 till now, having appeared in every edition since 2007.
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The team would be finalists four times successively in (1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970) and was the first team to successfully defend the African Champions Cup — a feat that was repeated in 2003 and 2004 by Enyimba of Nigeria.
With 27 titles at national level and 11 at international level since 1966, TP Mazembe are currently the most successful club of the DRC with 38 titles.
When they won the title in 2009 against Heartland (2–2 on aggregate, winning on the away goals rule), TP Mazembe qualified for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup and in their first match in the quarter-finals they lost 2-1 to Pohang Steelers of South Korea, despite taking the lead in the first half.
Following a 3-3 defeat to Auckland City in the fifth placed match they finished the tournament in 6th place and when they retained the African title in 2010, they became the first African side to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final after defeating Pachuca of Mexico 1–0 in the quarter-finals and 2-0 against Internacional of Brazil in the semi-finals — eventually defeated 0-3 in the final by Internazionale (Inter Milan of Italy).
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In 2015, TP Mazembe secured their fifth title in the competition after defeating USM Alger of Algeria 4–1 aggregate.
The reigning champions, Al Ahly, are renowned for their consistent success at both domestic and continental levels, regularly contending in CAF tournaments.
They have a record of 43 Egypt Premier League titles, 38 Egypt Cup title, 13 Egyptian Super Cups — making them the most successful club in Africa.
The club have won a record 11 CAF Champions League titles, 1 CAF Confederation Cup, a record of 8 CAF Super Cups, a record of 4 African Cup Winners’ Cup, 1 Afro-Asian Club Championship, 1 Arab Club Club Champions Cup, 1 Arab Cup Winners’ Cup and a record of 2 Arab Super Cups.
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They have also won 3 bronze medals in the FIFA Club World Cup and with 25 official continental titles, Al Ahly were voted by CAF as the African Club of the 20th Century.
Representing the COSAFA region are Botswana’s Jwaneng Galaxy and Mamelodi Sundowns, who remain in the hunt for a second Champions League crown after winning the tournament in 2016.
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They safely navigated past Burundian minnows Bumamuru to reach the CAF Champions League group stage with a 6-0 aggregate win — with goals from Mothobi Mvala and Teboho Mokoena earning the South African giants a 2-0 second leg victory at home, rounding off a comfortable passage against limited opposition.
Representing the CECAFA are Tanzanian sides Simba SC and Young Africans (who finished second in the CAF Confederation Cup); Angola’s Atletico Petroleos and Al Hilal of Sudan.—Info gathered on CAFonline
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