Africa roundup: 11 previous winners in CAF Champions League draw

The draws for the preliminary and last-32 rounds of the elite African club competition and the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup will be made in Cairo Monday.

Of the clubs who reached the Champions League quarter-finals this season, only Tunisian outfit Etoile Sahel failed to make it again with Esperance and CS Sfaxien representing the nation. Apart from the 11 former winners, six clubs have won other CAF competitions will be contenders, including Gor Mahia of Kenya and Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa.

There are four former African champions among the Confederation Cup entrants -- Entente Setif and JS Kabylie of Algeria, Orlando Pirates of South Africa and Etoile Sahel.

Here, AFP Sport rounds up football news from Africa.

South Africa

Bloemfontein Celtic may be cash strapped, lack stars and have an inexperienced coach in Malawian John Maduka, but it has not stopped them reaching a second successive South African knockout competition final. The club from the central city defeated title-holders SuperSport United 1-0 in the second leg of an MTN 8 semi-final to win 2-1 on aggregate and will face Orlando Pirates or Kaizer Chiefs for the trophy.

Victor Letsoalo scored for the 2019/2020 FA Cup runners-up on 50 minutes by darting on to a quickly taken free-kick and poking the ball past goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

Tanzania

Joash Onyango was the villain and the hero for Tanzanian Premier League defending champions Simba as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with fierce rivals Young Africans in Dar es Salaam. The Kenyan conceded a penalty which Ghanaian Michael Sarpong converted in the first half for Yanga, but he atoned by equalising five minutes from time.

Ice cream company club Azam top the table with 25 points after 10 rounds, Young Africans have 24 and Simba 20.

Zambia

Defending Zambian Premier League champions Nkana won for the first time this season at the third attempt with an Idris Mbombo goal delivering a 1-0 away win over Kabwe. The record 13-time champions lost their first match and drew the second, leaving them ninth in the 18-club championship with four points, three less than pacesetters Forest Rangers.

Rangers surrendered a 100 percent record when held 1-1 at home by Lusaka Dynamos, but are top of the table on goal difference from Red Arrows. Expensively assembled Egyptian club Pyramids say they will name a new coach soon after ditching Croat Ante Cacic for failing to meet domestic and African targets.

The Cairo club finished third behind traditional giants Ahly and Zamalek in the Egyptian Premier League and missed out on qualification for the CAF Champions League.

Pyramids fell at the final hurdle in their maiden CAF Confederation Cup campaign, losing 1-0 to Renaissance Berkane of Morocco in the single-match final in Rabat.

Liberia

Liberia First Division champions LPRC Oilers made a winning start to the season by edging BEA Mountain 1-0 thanks to a goal from debutant Terry Sackor. The match-winner has joined the Monrovia oil company club after a spell with three-time African champions Hafia in Guinea.

Mighty Barrolle and now lower-division club Invincible Eleven share the record for Liberian league titles with 13 each.

DR Congo

Surprise frontrunners Maniema Union stayed three points ahead of V Club after nine rounds of the Democratic Republic of Congo Ligue 1 by drawing 2-2 at Don Bosco.

Maniema are based in central mining city Kindu and have never won a competition dominated by major rivals V Club from Kinshasa and five-time African champions TP Mazembe from Lubumbashi. Sixth-place Mazembe, who have twice won back-to-back CAF Champions League (formerly African Cup of Champions Clubs) titles, trail Maniema by seven points but have matches in hand.

A ceasefire reached last month between the United Nations-recognised government and a rival administration has raised hopes that the Libyan Premier League can kick off soon. There has been little football in the oil-rich north African nation since the 2011 overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with national teams and clubs forced to fulfil international fixtures in other countries.

Al Ahly Tripoli reached the 1984 African Cup Winners Cup final, but Kadhafi barred them from playing Cairo club Al Ahly because of strained political relations with Egypt.