MAS Fes roar past Rahimo as TP Mazembe edge Medeama in CAF Champions League

The first legs of the CAF Champions League preliminary round brought contrasting results for the competition’s leading sides, with MAS Fes and TP Mazembe securing important victories while MC Alger and ASEC Mimosas earned credible draws.

MAS Fes produced the most emphatic result of the day, beating Burkina Faso’s Rahimo FC 4-1 at home. Brika opened the scoring in the seventh minute before Allouch doubled the Moroccan champions’ lead in first-half stoppage time.

Titus added a third in the 71st minute and Ibayi completed the scoring five minutes later, giving MAS Fes a sizeable advantage ahead of next week’s return leg in Ouagadougou.

Morocco’s other representative, RS Berkane, will enter the competition in the second round. They will face either Sierra Leone’s Star Sport Academy or Gambia’s Medina United, who drew 0-0 in the first leg.

TP Mazembe also took a significant step towards qualification on their return to the CAF Champions League. The Lubumbashi club defeated Medeama 1-0 in Ghana, with Lise Nyembo scoring the decisive goal in the 87th minute.

The result gives the Congolese side the advantage before the second leg at Kamalondo.

It was a successful day overall for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The country’s other representative, Aigles du Congo, beat Rwanda’s APR 1-0 in Kinshasa. The match was played behind closed doors because of the geopolitical situation between the two countries.

ASEC Mimosas also strengthened their position with a 1-1 draw away to ASC Kara in Togo. Ben Guel Kouyate scored the equaliser before half-time, giving the Ivorian side what was described as a valuable away goal.

MC Alger returned from Niger with a goalless draw against their hosts. The 0-0 result leaves the Algerian club with every chance of progressing when the tie concludes at home next week.

The other Algerian entrant, JS Saoura, had already recorded a 1-0 victory over Horoya on Friday.

There was also a goalless draw in Yaounde between Colombe Sportive and Stade Malien, who reached the quarter-finals of the previous edition.

Pyramids FC, crowned champions in 2025, maintained their reputation with a 2-0 away win against Kenya’s Gor Mahia.

In the CAF Confederation Cup, AFAD Djekanou were held to a potentially damaging 1-1 draw at home by Sierra Leone’s East End Lions.

The other Ivorian club in the competition, CO Korhogo, secured a 2-2 draw in Chad against AS PSI on Friday.

DC Virunga’s home match against Seychelles side PTL Bazar did not take place after the visiting club failed to travel to Lubumbashi. The Confederation of African Football will now decide how the abandoned fixture should be handled.

Elsewhere, Real Bamako won 2-1 away in Burkina Faso against Vitesse FC in a regional derby.