Yanga may have easy path in next CAF Champions League

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Mainland Premier League champions Young Africans (Yanga) have a favourable chance to qualify for the group and knockout stages of the next edition of the CAF Champions League following the current lineups of opponents.

Apart from Yanga, Tanzania will also be represented by Azam FC, who finished second last season in the Tanzania Mainland Premier League.

In the upcoming edition, Al Ahly and Pyramids will represent Egypt, while Raja Club Athletic and AS FAR will represent Morocco.

Other teams include MC Alger and CR Belouizdad from Algeria, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates (South Africa), TP Mazembe and AS Maniema Union (DR Congo), Petro de Luanda and Sagrada Esperança (Angola), FC San Pedro and Stade d’Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Enugu Rangers (Nigeria), and Samartex from Ghana.

Also in the competition are Djoliba of Mali, Victoria United (Cameroon), FC Nouadhibou (Mauritania), Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana), Red Arrows (Zambia), Teungueth FC (Senegal), SC Villa (Uganda), Mbabane Swallows (Eswatini), Ngezi Platinum (Zimbabwe), AS Douanes (Burkina Faso), Vital’O (Burundi), and AS Arta/Solar7 of Djibouti.

Other teams include Deportivo Mongomo of Equatorial Guinea, Real de Banjul (Gambia), Gor Mahia (Kenya), Lioli (Lesotho), Watanga (Liberia), Nyasa Big Bullets (Malawi), Clube Ferroviario da Beira (Mozambique), African Stars (Namibia), APR (Rwanda), and Saint Louis Suns United of Seychelles.

However, opponents from Zanzibar, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Guinea Bissau, Gabon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Chad, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, Benin, Niger, Togo, Guinea, Sudan, and Libya are not yet known.

Many of these teams, such as Al Ahly, Pyramids, Raja Club Athletic, MC Alger, CR Belouizdad, and TP Mazembe are the familiar opponents of the Jangwani Street men.

Last season, Yanga were in the same group with Al Ahly and CR Belouizdad and were placed second to qualify for the knockout stages.

In the 2022/2023 CAF Confederation Cup, Yanga faced TP Mazembe in the group stage and won both legs to advance to the knockout stage.

Records show that Yanga had also eliminated APR and Sagrada Esperança in the CAF competitions.

Teams like Pyramids, Sagrada Esperança, Raja Club Athletic, Vital’O, SC Villa, APR, Gor Mahia, and Nyasa Big Bullets are the common rivals of the Jangwani Street side.

As per the CAF procedures, Yanga will not face other teams that will start in the preliminaries because of the former’s current status.