CAF Confederation Cup campaigners Enyimba and Rivers United will be hoping to eliminate their North African foes from the competition, to become the first Nigerian sides to achieve the feat since the 2018/19 season.
Nigerian sides have found it difficult overcoming their North African counterparts in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, with Enugu Rangers the last side to send one of them out of the CAF inter-club competitions.
The Flying Antelopes defeated Algerian side USM Bel Abbès 2-0 on aggregate in the preliminary phase in the 2018/19 season to advance to the first round, before sending Lesotho’s Bantu out 4-2 on aggregate to reach the group phase.
In the 2021/22 playoff round, Enyimba and Rivers United are paired with North African sides, Al Ittihad and Al Masry respectively.
Rivers United are the latest team to be defeated by a North African side, having lost 2-1 on aggregate to Sudan’s Al Hilal in the CAF Champions League group stage qualifiers last week, while Enyimba’s last loss in the competition to a North African team was in the 2017/18 season, a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Tunisia’s Raja Casablanca in the semi-final.
In the 2017/18 season, four Nigerian teams made it to the group stage playoffs round, with only Enyimba making it to the group phase.
Akwa United lost to Al Hilal on the away-goal rule, while Plateau United crashed out 5-2 in the hands of USM Alger. MFM FC lost to Senegal’s Djoliba.
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