Enugu Rangers and Enyimba had mixed fortunes in their quest to qualify for the group stage of their respective CAF competitions this season.
Nigeria Premier Football League defending champions, Enugu Rangers will not play in the group stage of the 2024/2025 season of the CAF Champions League.
The Flying Antelopes were knocked out of the final preliminary round by Angolan side Sagrada Esperança in Luanda in Sunday.
Enugu Rangers suffered a 3-1 (3-2 on aggregate) loss as they bowed out of the competition.
The Nigerian champions went into the match against Sagrada Esperança with a slim 1 nil lead but couldn’t hold the pressure from the home side.
Alexandre Fernando gave the home side the lead on the 6th minute Mussa doubled the lead on the 33rd minute.
Ogbonna Anayor halved the deficit for Enugu Rangers a few minutes before half time to bring Rangers into contention of qualifying for the group stage.
Unfortunately, Jamie Pimpao’s 67th goal compunded the woes of the Nigerian champions as they missed out on the group stage.
On the flip side, Enyimba dug deep to progress into the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup after they beat Etoile Filante of Burkina Faso on penalties.
The first league ended goalless of the encounter ended goalless seven days ago as both sides failed to find a breakthrough.
Likewise, both sides played out a goalless draw again in the second leg at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium on Sunday.
Enyimba narrowly edged Etoile Filante 3-2 on penalties to secure their place in the group stage of the competition.
