African Champions League co-favourites Esperance of Tunisia and Enyimba of Nigeria face contrasting tasks this weekend when the eight-club group phase reaches the halfway mark.
Esperance should maintain the only perfect record in Group B with a home win over Usma of Algeria, but defending champions and Group A leaders Enyimba will do well to dodge an away defeat to another Tunisian outfit, Etoile Sahel.
Supersport United of South Africa must overcome Jeanne d’Arc of Senegal in Pretoria to stay in contention for second spot after narrow defeats at home to Esperance and away to Usma.
And there will also be an air of desperation hanging over the match between Bakili Bullets of Malawi and Africa Sport of Côte d’Ivoire in Blantyre as the losers can kiss goodbye to any hope of reaching the semifinals.
Esperance have been a cut above their pool rivals with the return to form of injury-plagued striker Ali Zitouni a key factor.
He scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Supersport and another brace in the 5-0 demolition of Jeanne d’Arc.
Usma also possess a deadly finisher in Malian Mamadou Diallo, the leading scorer in the Champions League with eight goals from four qualifiers and two group games.
But Diallo is likely to get few chances at the Al-Menzah Stadium in Tunis, where the Algerians will probably be preoccupied with keeping 1994 champions Esperance at bay.
Apart from the five against Jeanne d’Arc, the legendary ”Blood and Gold” scored four against Sahel of Niger and three against Cotonsport Garoua of Cameroon in other home fixtures.
The three matches were staged outside the Tunisian capital as punishment for crowd trouble in a Champions League match last year, but a reduction of the ban means Usma must travel to a venue where Esperance are virtually invincible.
When the clubs met at the same stage last year, Esperance won 2-0 at home and 1-0 away and it will be a shock if they fail to win the clash of the beaten 2003 semifinalists with a couple of goals to spare.
Enyimba face Etoile at the Olympic Stadium in Sousse, a Mediterranean town where another Nigerian club came badly unstuck last year in the final of the now-defunct African Cup Winners Cup.
Julius Berger brought a two-goal advantage only to crash 3-0 with Nigerian striker Ikechukwu Obiakor the hat-trick hero of a stirring comeback that owed much to fanatical support.
Obiakor was on target in a 2-0 home win over Africa Sport two weeks ago and another Nigerian, Emeka Okpara, scored the stoppage-time winner against Bakili in Malawi.
Enyimba have been much more impressive, beating Africa Sport 3-0 in Abidjan and Bullets 6-0 at their Aba base in south-east Nigeria, and warmed up for Sahel with a 3-0 national-league victory over Lobi Stars.
The ”People’s Elephant” also have the psychological advantage of beating Etoile 1-0 this year in Aba to win the annual African Super Cup showdown between the Champions League and Cup Winners Cup holders.
Competing in the Champions League for the first time, Supersport have cursed their luck with a last-minute ”equaliser” against Esperance disallowed for no obvious reason.
And the team coached by former national team striker Pitso Mosimane came from behind against Usma with 10 men to level, only for Diallo to snatch the winner four minutes into stoppage time.
Regular African campaigners Jeanne d’Arc have lost their four away qualifying and group matches and another loss is on the cards because Supersport know that if they earn anything but maximum points they are out of contention.
Bullets are bankrolled by Bakili Muluzi, who stepped down as president of Malawi this year and wants the most popular and successful club in the Central Africa country to become an international giant.
He will have to be patient, however, as Enyimba exposed many weaknesses in the mud of Aba and if Bullets lose at home to Africa Sport they could end the six-match programme pointless. — Sapa-AFP