By Daily sports on December 5, 2020

The 2020-21 CAF Confederation Cup will wrap up its preliminary round with 18 second-leg matches across the continent this weekend, and the focus will fall on the comeback efforts of Nigerian sides Kano Pillars and Rivers United.

The NPFL sides find themselves trailing 1-3 against ASC Diaraf of Senegal and 1-2 against Equatorial Guinea’s Futuro Kings respectively, though both will be at home this weekend and looking to build on footholds in the ties thanks to their away goals.

Kano Pillars captain Rabiu Ali has promised maximum effort in their match in Kaduna on Saturday: “We know our fans are not happy with us on what happened in the first leg but they should be patient because in football, you either win, draw or lose, but we will try our best in the return leg.”

Rivers United defender Ifeanyi Anamena has echoed similar sentiments: “We lost 2-1, and if we can win 1-0 or 2-0 at home then we are done, it is a matter of self-motivation, and we will make sure we get a positive aggregate result that will overturn the negative outcome of the first leg.”

Elsewhere, Zambia’s Green Eagles will host Musongati of Burundi with their tie locked at 2-2; Ghana’s Ashanti Gold face a tough clash in Burkina Faso against Salitas (the teams drew 0-0 in Obuasi last weekend); and Cameroon’s Coton Sport will be confident of progression as they prepare to host Togo’s Sokode with a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Lome.

The 18 aggregate winners will advance into the first round to join Sagrada Esperanca (who had a walkover), RS Berkane, ES Setif, JS Kabylie, ESAE, San Pedro, Etoile du Sahel, Pyramids, Al Ahly Tripoli, El Hilal El Obeid, Orlando Pirates, KCCA, UD Songo and DC Motema Pembe (who all had byes).

CAF Confederation Cup fixtures, 4-6 December

Preliminary round, second leg – aggregate scores in parenthesis

SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER

KVZ v Al Amal Atbara (0-1)

Kano Pillars v ASC Diaraf (1-3)

TAS Casablanca v GAMTEL (1-0)

NAPSA Stars v Ngazi Sport (5-1)

Bloemfontein Celtic v AS Maniema Union (2-0)

Salitas v Ashanti Gold (0-0)

USGN v Yeelen Olympique (1-0)

SUNDAY 6 DECEMBER

Renaissance v CL Kamsar (0-0)

Fasil Kenema v US Monastir (0-2)

Green Eagles v Musongati (2-2)

Bravos do Marquis v Etoile du Congo (1-1)

Rivers United v Futuro Kings (1-2)

Horseed v Al Ittihad Tripoli (1-4)

Tevragh-Zeina v AS Kaloum Star (1-1)

Al Rabita v Namungo (0-3)

AS Kigali v Orapa United (1-2)

Coton Sport v UFC Sokode (2-0) (African Football)

•PHOTO: Kano Pillars players 

Source Daily sports

Posted December 5, 2020

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