On Tuesday, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) conducted the draws for the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup.
The draws were conducted at the 6th of October City in Cairo, Egypt. The holders of the Champions League, Al Ahly of Egypt, and 53 other clubs from 42 CAF nations will go head to head starting 18 August in two preliminary rounds.
USM Alger, holders of the Confederations Cup, and 51 other teams from 41 CAF nations will battle for the 2023/24 title. Their games will also begin on 18 August and will be played in two preliminary rounds.
? Official:
CAF Champions League 2023/24 Preliminary Stage draw in full.
Thoughts? #CAFCLwithMicky #TotalEnergiesCAFCL pic.twitter.com/qVTC1Iuu2B
— Micky Jnr ✪ (@MickyJnr__) July 25, 2023
Enyimba, Bendel Insurance find out opponents in CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup preliminaries
Nine-time (and current) Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) champions Enyimba International FC are the headline Nigerian team at the CAF tournaments.
The People's Elephant are not new to the atmosphere of the CAF Champions League but have not had any success in the competition in recent memory.
Debutants Remo Stars are the next most exciting team from Nigeria in the Champions League and their performance will be a big statement for the changing landscape of Nigerian club football.
In the CAF Confederations Cup, Rivers United and Bendel Insurance are going to be flying Nigeria's flag.
CAF Champions League first round fixtures;
MEdema SC, Ghana ?? v Remo Stars, Nigeria ??
Ahli Benghazi, Libya ?? v Enyimba, Nigeria ??
Winnable games for both Nigerian teams
— POOJA!!! (@PoojaMedia) July 25, 2023
Both sets of teams will be playing home and away fixtures in the first preliminary rounds with hopes of progressing to the second preliminary rounds which will determine their participation in the official group stages of the CAF competitions.
See their fixtures below.
CAF Champions League 1st Preliminary round: 18 – 27 August
- Medeama vs Remo Stars
- Ahly Benghazi vs Enyimba
CAF Champions League 2nd Preliminary round: 15 September – 1 October
- Medeama/Remo Stars vs Horoya AC
- Ahly Benghazi/Enyimba vs Coton/ASEC Mimosas
CAF Confederations Cup 1st Preliminary round: 18 – 27 August
- Bendel Insurance vs ASO Chlef
CAF Confederations Cup 2nd Preliminary round: 15 September – 1 October
- Bendel Insurance/ASO Chlef vs RS Berkane
- Casa Sports/Étoile Filante vs Rivers United
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•?????? ??????'? ???????? ???????? ?? Look back at the highlights of Enyimba's first ever meeting with Al Ahli Benghazi ??#CAFCL || #TogetherForVictory pic.twitter.com/lP5srZ1he6
— Enyimba FC (@EnyimbaFC) July 26, 2023
Meet the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup opponents of Enyimba, Remo Stars, Bendel Insurance
Rivers United got seeded straight into the 2nd preliminary round of the CAF Confederations Cup where they will meet either Casa Sports of Senegal or Étoile Filante of Burkina Faso.
The Senegal club are a high-flying team in the Senegalese Ligue 1, with the sixth most titles in Senegal's football history. Their last game against a Nigerian side in continental football was against Dolphins of Port Harcourt and they lost 2 – 1 over two legs in the preliminary rounds.
They will have to face Étoile Filante, one of the biggest clubs in Burkina Faso. They have not had much success on the continental stage, however, having exited from the first preliminary round in most of their appearances.
Bendel Insurance, the NPFL's other Confederations Cup team, will face Algerian side ASO Chlef. The Algerian side do not have much history in CAF Competitions, having appeared in only four different editions of both the Champions League and Confederations Cup.
Bendel will have to scale past them to face two-time Confederations Cup champions RS Berkane in the second preliminaries.
Berkane are also the 2022 CAF Super Cup champions, having defeated 2021/22 Champions League winners Wydad FC.
CAF Champions League debutants Remo Stars will face Ghana Premier League champions Medeama SC, who braved all odds to win their first ever GPL title last season. Both are debutants in the tournament, which makes it exciting to look forward to.
?????? ????? | Remo Stars fires back at homeless Ghanaian champions Medeama SC.
These two sides will faceoff at the preliminary stage of CAF Champions League next month.
Remo Stars are hopeful they would blast the Ghanaian champions with goals ? pic.twitter.com/OzSKuCHtRn
— Leagues Reporter (@LeaguesReporter) July 26, 2023
Horoya AC awaits the winner of their tie in the second preliminary round.
The Guinean club's best performance in recent memory is a semi-final finish in the 2019/2020 Confederations Cup. They have more first and second round exits than a number of the participating clubs, which gives Remo Stars hope.
Enyimba, on the other hand, have Ahly Benghazi, who have only played in the Champions League seven times previously. However, they only failed to make it past the preliminaries once, which puts Finidi George, manager of the Nigerian champions, on high alert.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
