The first round of CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup has seen Rwandan representatives, APR FC and AS Kigali book tickets to the next round of the respective competitions which resume in October.
AS Kigali’s 6-0 victory on Saturday gave them a 8-1 aggregate win and set a date with DR Congo’s DC Motema Pembe while APR FC came from behind to overcome Somalia’s Mogadishu City Club with a hard fought 2-1 win at the same stadium and prepare for a rendezvous with Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel.
But will the two teams manage to reach the group stages of the elite continental competitions?
APR FC
Without head coach Adil Mohamed Erradi on the sidelines, the army side has been struggling to shine in the CAF Champions League. They looked ordinary even against underdogs Mogadishu City Club on Sunday.
The Moroccan who has been hailed for inspiring the club to two league titles without losing a single match doesn’t hold the requisite coaching certificates required to coach in the CAF champions’ league.
Erradi’s absence in the dugout during the CAF Champions League has been felt in the last two first round ties against the Mogadishu CC to the extent that the Somalian side nearly eliminated them in Kigali.
The same happened last season when the club fell to a surprise early elimination in the first round of the Champions League against Kenya’s Gor Mahia.
They may have ended the 2020/21 top flight league campaign unbeaten but the club’s displays at the continental competition still look less sharp than their performances in Africa.
APR FC’s backline is already shaky due to the departure of defenders like former skipper Thierry Manzi, Ange Mutsinzi and Emmanuel Imanishimwe who recently left the club to go pro.
The defenders’ performance in the return leg in Kigali didn’t look promising following defensive errors that saw them concede a goal against Mogadishu City council, hence putting the club’s target to reach in the group stages in jeopardy should the coaching staff not find solutions as soon as possible.
The attack is not as productive as it was during the league either. The club is yet to get the best out of striker and new skipper Jacques Tuyisenge, who continues to struggle for goals in crucial matches while the likes of Yannick Bizimana and Gilbert Mugisha are yet to rediscover their forms to fill the void left by injured Lague Byiringiro.
APR FC will face Tunisian side Etoile du Sahel in the second round of the CAF Champions league in October, a side that has never lost to the army side during their past meetings.
AS Kigali
Whether Comoros’ Olympique de Missira were inferior or not, the City of Kigali-sponsored club has shown that they are unstoppable in the past two games of the first round of the CAF Confederation Cup.
Head coach Eric Nshimiyimana and his boys won the tie 8-1 on aggregate, including a 6-0 home win in Kigali last weekend.
From the goalkeeping department led by new goalie Fiacre Ntwari to the attacking force of Sjabban Hussein Tshabalala and Hussein Lawal and through the midfield of in-form Pierrot Kwizera and Haruna Niyonzima, AS Kigali is showing that they have no plans to go a step back.
They are already preparing for Congolese side DC Motema Pembe in the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup next month as they look forward to reaching the group stages for the first time in the club’s history.
The club’s management, led by President Fabrice Shema, has allocated Rwf 500 million budget to spend in the 2021/22 season which could increase depending on how far they can reach in the CAF Confederation.
Their current spending spree in the transfer market has proved how hungry they are becoming for a major title locally and a continental silverware is no exception.
The additions of key players like defender Dennis Rukundo, experienced midfielder Haruna Niyonzima and Olivier Niyonzima among others saw the club position themselves among teams that will give challenge in CAF competitions not just this season but in the next three to five seasons.