LAGOS: Al Hilal of Sudan will this weekend welcome Libya’s Al Ittihad in a CAF Confederation Cup Group A match likely to decide the overall winner of this mini-group stage of the competition.
Both teams have recorded nine points from four matches with Ittihad top of the standings having scored more goals than their Sudanese rivals.
Al Hilal beat the Libyan club 2-1 when they first clashed in August.
However, Mali’s Djoliba on four points are still in with a chance of reaching the knockout stage of the annual tournament if they win their remaining two matches.
They host bottom team AS FAN of Niger and then two weeks later confront Ittihad in Tripoli. Djoliba held AS FAN to a goalless draw in Niamey and lost 1-0 at home to Ittihad.
In Group B, leaders FUS Rabat of Morocco will book their place in the semi-finals if they pull off a draw Saturday at third-placed Zanaco of Zambia.
FUS Rabat have nine points from four matches and pipped their Zambian foes 1-0 in the reverse fixture in August.
The Moroccan club’s coach, Hassan Moumen, has targeted a win in Lusaka on Saturday so as to ease pressure on his team going into their final group game away at closest rivals CS Sfaxien.
"We only need three points to achieve qualification. It will not be an easy game but we just have to win and achieve what looked impossible at the start of the campaign," Moumen disclosed.
His Zanaco counterpart, Wedson Nyirenda, said this tie is a must-win if his team are to stay alive in the competition.
"This game will without doubt shape our destiny in the Confederation Cup. We just have to win, and then set our eyes on our last game against Haras Al Hodood. Nothing less than a win will do. We need the three points," Nyirenda stressed.
Nyirenda has predicted a photo-finish in this section as all four teams still have a chance to make it to the semi-finals.
CS Sfaxien, who are second in Group B with seven points, will also boost their qualification chances Saturday by beating bottom team Haras Al Hodood of Egypt. Both teams drew 0-0 in Egypt.
The Egyptian military team have been disappointing in the competition and with two points from four matches, even a draw in Tunisia will kill off their Confederation Cup hopes.
Hodood, who have exited the competition in the group stage in the last two editions, will most certainly be buoyed by two successive wins in the Egyptian league.
"The players have been in a very good form and so we will travel to Tunisia with morale high," said coach Tarek Al-Ashri.
"When I was talking to the players, I stressed that our hopes of reaching the Confederation Cup semis remain alive."
Despite the dominance of Al Ahly and Zamalek in the more prestigious Champions League, no Egyptian club has won the Confederation Cup since it was founded in 2004 following the merger of the African Cup Winners’ Cup and the CAF Cup.
