African Champions League 2014 - TP Mazembe lose opening group match

Friday's match was played in front of a capacity crowd at Khartoum Stadium. Midfielder Salah Al Jizoli headed home the only goal of the game after 51 minutes. The Mazembe duo of Mbwana Samata and Thomas Ulimwengu needed to bounce back from the defeat immediately. A few hours after the match, they were scheduled to fly to Dar es Salaam for Tanzania's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Zimbabwe on Sunday.

In the other Group A game, TP Mazembe's DR Congo rivals AS Vita Club host Egypt's Zamalek just a week after 15 fans were killed in a stampede at the Tata Raphael Stadium in Kinshasa. The Confederation of African Football has limited the attendance to 5,000 supporters for the Group A match against Zamalek.

Egyptian club Zamalek wanted the clash of former African champions moved out of the vast central African country after the tragedy, which left dozens injured. CAF said priority would be given to Vita supporters with membership cards, and top Congolese football officials had visited the stadium to plan an incident-free fixture. Those who died were crushed trying to escape tear gas fired by police after disgruntled Vita fans hurled missiles on the pitch after a 1:0 home defeat by arch-rivals TP Mazembe.
Victory ensured Mazembe retained the league title and relegated Vita to third place on the final DR Congo Super League table. That means Vita will miss the 2015 Champions League unless they greatly exceed expectations and win the premier African club competition this year.

AS Vita came through a tough qualifying schedule to reach the eight-club mini-league phase, eliminating Nigerians Kano Pillars, Zimbabweans Dynamos and South Africans Kaizer Chiefs. Firmin Mubele bagged a hat-trick against Chiefs at Tata Raphael, and the 20-year-old now faces a formidable Zamalek defence backed by veteran goalkeeper Abdul Wahed El Sayed. The Egyptians, who won the last of five Champions League titles 12 years ago, did not concede a goal in six qualifiers.

Elsewhere this weekend, title favourites and newly-crowned Tunisian champions Esperance get the Group B ball rolling on Saturday at home to Algerians Entente Setif and are expected to secure maximum points. "We have just won the Tunisian title, and I want to win the Champions League too," stressed Dutch coach Ruud Krol to local reporters. "I know all our opponents in the group, and my team will do its best to qualify."
Entente Setif shares with Zamalek the distinction of not conceding a goal in the qualifiers, but a major challenge awaits them at the Stade Olympique in six-goal Haythem Jouini. He is the joint leading Champions League scorer this season, with his total including a hat-trick against Kenyans Gor Mahia in Tunis.

CS Sfaxien, the other Tunisian club in the group and favourites to advance with Esperance, will host surprise qualifiers Al Ahli Benghazi on Sunday. The Libyans dumped defending champions Al Ahli of Egypt in the final qualifying round, winning at home and away. Fakhreddine Ben Youssef is the goal-a-game Sfaxien danger man, while Benghazi's Zimbabwe international striker Edward Sadomba has also struck four Champions League goals this season.
Sadomba will miss his country's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on Sunday in order to play for his club, who are not obliged to release him as the international match falls outside of the FIFA international dates.