Algerian Trio Pitted Together in CAF Champions League Group Stages

The three Algerian clubs who made history by becoming the first three teams to enter CAF Champions League last 8 have been drawn to face each other when the competition's group stages kick off mid this month.

Defending champions ES Setif, Algeria league champions USM Alger and MC El Eulma were thrown in the Group B dungeon that also has Sudanese Champions El Merreikh.

ES Setif secured their last 8 berth after outclassing Moroccan side Raja Casablanca 4-1 on penalties, the duo having drawn their first and return leg 2-2.

USM Alger overpowered Guinean side Kaloum Star 3-2 over two legs to enter the group stages while MC El Eulma stunned CS Sfaxien 7-6 on penalties to complete Algeria’s hat-trick.

Sudanese side Al Merreikh, the home club of Kenyan attacker Allan Wanga, overcame two-time winners Esperance of Tunisia on away goals and will be hoping to outmaneuver the three-prong Algerian challenge.

Congolese giants and 4-time winners TP Mazembe will be favorites to advance from Group A which also has record Sudan Premier League winners Al Hilal Omdurman, Moghreb Tetouan of Morocco and Egyptian surprise-package Smouha.

Al Hilal, three-time CAF Champions League semi-finalists beat DR Congo side Sanga Balende 1-0 on both legs for a 2-0 aggregate win. Smouha overturned a 1-0 away defeat at AC Leopards grabbing the return leg 2-0 in an empty stadium to qualify while Moghreb Toutan sent eight-time winners Al Ahly packing on penalties.

CAF Confederations Cup

In the CAF Confederations Cup play-offs draw, defending Champions Al Ahly whose drop from the superior Champions League competition led to the sacking of their manager, Spaniard Juan Carlos Garido, will face a mega battle against Tunisian side Club Africain. South Africa’s Orlando Pirates landed a fairly easily draw as they will clash with AS Kaloum of Guinea while Raja Casablanca, conquerors of Kaizer Chiefs will face Etoile du Sahel from Tunisia.

Ghana’s Hearts of Oak will face Tunisian side Esperance in a repeat of the 2000 CAF Champions League final which the Accra-based side won 5-2 on aggregate. Congolese sides AC Leopards and Sanga Balende will take on Nigeria’s Warri Wolves and Egyptian side Zamalek respectively.

Three-time winners CS Sfaxien will continue their hunt for a fourth title by playing Abidjan-based Asec Mimosas while 2009 winners Stade Malien from Mali face a trick tie in the shape of AS Vita Club.

The first legs will be played on the weekend of May 15-17 with the return legs set for June 5-7.

And That's thesteifmastertake!!

Bayern Munich Win Bundesliga, Chelsea and Juventus Close in

Bayern Munich became the first team among Europea’s Big 5 leagues to be crowned league Champions.

The Bavarians were made to sweat in their match against Hertha Berlin but Bastian Schweinsteiger provided the cutting edge scoring the only goal 10 minutes before the end in a 1-0 win on Saturday.

That result meant that second-placed Wolfsburg had to win at Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday to push Bayern’s inevitable title celebrations to another week. However, The Wolves were beaten 1-0 courtesy of Max Kruse’s 90^th minute goal for Gladbach, handing Pep Guardiola the Bundesliga title in his first season in charge, and Bayern’s third on the trot and 25^th overall.

With the league title safely secure in the cabinet with 6 games to play, the Champions League semi-finalists will be gunning to go a step closer to a third consecutive league and cup double when they play rivals Borussia Dortmund in the semifinal of the DFB Pokal Cup on Tuesday. They have beaten Jurgen Klopp’s side over two legs in the Bundesliga this season but Die Schwarzgelben were the celebrating lot the last time the two met in a cup match (Dortmund beat Bayern 2-0 in the season-opening Super Cup clash).

SERIE A

Torino won the Derby della Molle for the first time in 20 years beating rivals Juventus 2-1 to delay the Old Lady’s title claim on hold. Andrea Pirlo had put the runaway leaders ahead with his typical effortless freekick in the 35^th minute but Matteo Darmian leveled at the stroke of half time.

Juventus old boy Fabio Quagliarella scored the winner eight minutes into the second half to hand Torino the derby win in a match that was marred by crowd violence. Lazio failed to take advantage of Juventus’ only third defeat in Serie A this season as they were held 1-1 by lowly Chievo.

However, Massimiliano Allegri’s men still have an unassailable lead and will be crowned champions on Wednesday should they beat Fiorentina and Lazio fail to beat relegated Parma.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Chelsea moved to within utmost two wins in their remaining five games to secure the Barclays Premier League title despite drawing 0-0 at Arsenal. The Blues are 10 points clear of second-placed Manchester City and with a game in hand. A win over Leicester City on Wednesday could see them put one hand on the title.

La Liga

Both leaders Barcelona and second on the log Real Madrid won on the weekend to ensure the La Liga race is still open to either. Neymar and Lionel Messi scored as Barca edged Espanyol 2-0 in the Barcelona derby while Real Madrid edged Celta Vigo 4-2 thanks to Javier ‘Chicarito’ Hernandez’s brace. Carlo Ancelloti’s men are on 79 points, two points behind the Catalans while Atletico Madrid, 3-0 winners over Elche, are third on 72 with five matches to play in La Liga.

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Champions League: Real Madrid Draw Juventus, Barca Face Bayern

Barcelona and Real Madrid were kept apart in the Champions League semi-finals draw putting on hold a possible El-Classico clash at least until the Lisbon final.

Reigning Champions Real Madrid have been drawn to face Serie A leaders and Champions-elect Juventus while Barcelona will have to battle with Bayern Munich for a place in this year’s final.

Carlo Ancelloti’s Madrid booked their berth to the semis after squeezing out a narrow 1-0 second leg win over city rivals Atletico Madrid to advance, the first leg having ended barren. Juventus also advanced on a similar scoreline against French side Monaco thanks to Arturo Vidal’s first leg penalty and an unyielding defensive display in the return leg in France which ended scoreless.

The last semi-final meeting between Massimiliano Allegri’s side and Madrid was in the 2002-03 season. The Old lady proved superior on both legs, winning 2-0 in the first leg at home and 2-1 in the return leg at the Bernabeu in their way to losing the final to AC Milan.

However, the La Liga side won the most recent encounter between the two sides which was in the group stages of the 2012-14 competition. Madrid won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu but were held 2-2 in the return leg in Turin. Juventus have never lost to Los Blancos when playing host.

Barcelona will be hoping to banish memories of two seasons ago when they got embarrassed by Bayern Munich in their last Champions league meeting. The Catalans were put to shame as Bayern ran riot in both legs, winning 4-0 at Allianz and 3-0 at Camp Nou in a shocking 7-0 aggregate loss.

The Bavarians overturned a 3-1 first leg deficit against Porto brushing aside the Portuguese outfit 6-1 for a 7-4 aggregate win in the quarters. Luis Enrique’s Barcelona on the other hand were comfortable victors in both legs winning 3-1 in France and 2-0 at Camp Nou against Paris Saint Germain.

It will be a clash of ex-Barcelona teammates as Enrique faces off with Pep Guardiola.

The first leg ties will be played on 5^th and 6^th of May with the return legs set for May 12^th and 13^th.

Meanwhile in the Europa League, defending champions Sevilla have been drawn to face Fiorentina in the semis. Sevilla were held to a 2-2 draw away at Zenit in the return leg but progressed 4-3 on aggregate having won the first leg 2-1 while Fiorentina beat 10-man Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Florence to progress on a 3-1 aggregate.

Napoli landed a last four tie against Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Rafa Benitez’s men were held to a 2-2 draw by Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg but advanced on a 6-3 aggregate score having impressively won the first leg 4-1 in Germany. Evgeniy Shakov’s 82^nd minute goal helped Dnipro beat Club Brugge 1-0 to advance, the first leg having finished 0-0.

And That’s thesteifmastertake!!