CAF Champions League-Preliminary Round Second Leg
KCCA FC vs African Stars (Agg: 2-3)
StarTimes Stadium, Lugogo
Friday, 23-08-2019 @4pm
LUGOGO-KCCA FC will be hoping to overturn a 2-3 deficit when they host African Stars in the second leg of their CAF Champions League preliminary round tie.
The two sides meet on Friday at the StarTimes Stadium in Lugogo with the Malawian champions holding the advantage.
The Kasasiros will head into the encounter knowing that a 1-0 win will be good enough to see them progress to the next round.
However, they will have to do it minus three players who have previously featured for them on the continent.
The trio of Patrick Kaddu, Allan Kyambadde and Timothy Awany have all transferred to new clubs but KCCA FC head coach Mike Mutebi is not worried by their departures.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Mike Mutebi also stresses that he has the ideal replacements for the trio.
“Our target is to reach the group stages which will in turn help in nurturing our boys like it was the case for those three.
“We currently have 28 players who are ready to compete so I am not worried about the departures.
“I am optimistic that the players that I have will do the job despite their age.”
KCCA have also been busy in the transfer market, securing the signings of three players. John Revita, Simon Sserunkuma and Erisa Ssekisambu have all been brought in and are expected to make their respective continental debuts on Friday afternoon.
The Kasasiros who reached the lucrative group stages of the competition in 2018 are favourites to get past African Securities and will look to young star Allan Okello for inspiration.
Okello has been in good form of late scoring and assisting consistently in the off-season.
In his last outing, the 20-year old scored a brace as KCCA FC defeated Onduparaka FC 3-1 in the Pilsner Super 8 semi final last week.
However, even with Okello in their ranks, Mutebi’s side should be cautious going into the game as they were surprisingly eliminated from the CAF Confederations Cup last year.
Trailing 0-3 from thw first leg, they failed to overcome thw deficit as they lost 2-3 on aggregate to Congolese side Otoho Doyo.
For African Stars, they are currently featuring in their second Champions League campaign.
Their first in 2018/19 was ended by a first round loss to South Africa’s Orlando Pirates who defeated them 1-0 on aggregate.
Unlike in the tie against Pirates last season, African Stars hold a lead going into the second leg, one that head coach Mohammed Fergo claims they are ready to hold onto.
“We are grateful for a good reception we have had since arrival, said Fargo.
“It was a good game in Malawi and coming here very prepared.
“We went back to the drawing board and looked at how best we can hold onto our lead and all i can say, we are very much prepared to give KCCA a run for their money.”
The winner between the two sides moves into the first round of the tournament where they will take on either Lesotho’s Matlama or Angola’s Petro de Luanda.
