PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
2016 CAF Confederation Cup: TP Mazembe seeks maiden trophy (Preview by Vincent Obi, PANA Editor)
Cairo, Egypt (PANA) - TP Mazembe of DR Congo will be seeking to add a first CAF Confederation Cup to its trophy-laden archives when it plays against hosts MO Béjaïa of Algeria on Saturday in the first-leg final of the 2016 edition of the competition.
In its archives, TP Mazembe already has the CAF Champions league trophies won in 1967, 1968, 2009, 2010 and 2015 as well as runners up cups from 1969 and 1970.
It also recently won the Orange CAF Super Cup 2016 when it defeated Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia 2-1 in Lubumbashi - its third Super Cup win in battles between the winners of the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
MO Béjaïa had no known record of successes in both the Confederation Cup and Champions league and prevailing over TP Mazembe will be history for the Algerians.
In the 2016 campaign, both teams were losers in the second round of the more lucrative CAF Champions league and were moved to the play-off stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.
In that round, MO Béjaïa defeated Espérance de Tunis of Tunisia on a 1-1 away goals rule, while TP Mazembe beat Stade Gabèsien of Tunisia also on away goals rule - 2-2, for both teams to advance to the group stage.
Incidentally, they played in Group A with TP Mazembe winning the group on 13 points after winning four matches, drawing one and losing one from the six group matches. MO Béjaïa came a distant second, logging two wins, two draws and two losses for 8 points.
In their head-to-head group-stage record, TP Mazembe defeated MO Béjaïa 1-0 at home and drew 0-0 in Algeria.
On paper therefore, TP Mazembe should win their maiden CAF Confederation Cup against the less-experienced Algerian side, drawing from its huge experience from previous CAF Champions league and Confederation Cup campaigns.
They also have the privilege of playing the second-leg final at home and are capable of frustrating the Algerians in Algeria in the first leg only to coast home to victory in the second leg on 6 November.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 28Oct2016
In its archives, TP Mazembe already has the CAF Champions league trophies won in 1967, 1968, 2009, 2010 and 2015 as well as runners up cups from 1969 and 1970.
It also recently won the Orange CAF Super Cup 2016 when it defeated Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia 2-1 in Lubumbashi - its third Super Cup win in battles between the winners of the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
MO Béjaïa had no known record of successes in both the Confederation Cup and Champions league and prevailing over TP Mazembe will be history for the Algerians.
In the 2016 campaign, both teams were losers in the second round of the more lucrative CAF Champions league and were moved to the play-off stage of the CAF Confederation Cup.
In that round, MO Béjaïa defeated Espérance de Tunis of Tunisia on a 1-1 away goals rule, while TP Mazembe beat Stade Gabèsien of Tunisia also on away goals rule - 2-2, for both teams to advance to the group stage.
Incidentally, they played in Group A with TP Mazembe winning the group on 13 points after winning four matches, drawing one and losing one from the six group matches. MO Béjaïa came a distant second, logging two wins, two draws and two losses for 8 points.
In their head-to-head group-stage record, TP Mazembe defeated MO Béjaïa 1-0 at home and drew 0-0 in Algeria.
On paper therefore, TP Mazembe should win their maiden CAF Confederation Cup against the less-experienced Algerian side, drawing from its huge experience from previous CAF Champions league and Confederation Cup campaigns.
They also have the privilege of playing the second-leg final at home and are capable of frustrating the Algerians in Algeria in the first leg only to coast home to victory in the second leg on 6 November.
-0- PANA VAO/MA 28Oct2016
