Chlef - Hussein Bou Salah
Champion League
Algerian “Olympique de Chlef” on Friday plays its last chance to qualify for the Champion League when it meets Nigerian Sunshine Stars in the fouth group confrontation. Olympique enters the match without five key
players including the top scorer of the team, Mohammad Massood as well as Mellouli and Bouhafer for the penalty against them from the CAF and Sayedon and Nasak due to injury. This will force the coach Rachid Belhout to find quick solutions to this shortage in an attempt win match points in the Boumzac stadium in Chlef.
The experienced Olymique chief Samir Zaoui told Arabstoday that the team gained its balance after losing in Nigeria (0 -2) and despite the significant absence: "We are determined to win to stay in the qualifying race and we have to enter with the mentality of the professional player and playing the 90 minutes as a cup game. Olymique is a team for difficult missions.”
Coach Belhout continued searching for the ‘effective recipe’ to win the match by testing alternatives during training and the last practices games and said in answer to our question about the injuries and the chances of Chlefs: “At this level it is not appropriate to talk about absences. Despite their impact, Olympique is a professional team and we have to overcome all the obstacles to stay in the race.”
A mission like that of Algeria seems more difficult in front of a strong competitor who is good at winning outside their home ground, as the Nigerian representative came back with an equivalent point from Tunisia against the Red Castle Etoile du Sahel (0-0) in the second round of African Champions League competition.
CLFAWH lies at the tail end of the first group after three losses against Etoile du Sahel, Tunisian Taraji amd Nigerian Sunshiine Stars in their encounters.
In the second confrontation of this group, the Etoile du Sahel mission remains difficult with an encounter with Taraji on Saturday night.
After the Egyptian Ahly achieved three consecutive wins thus moving to the semifinals, it might be separated by 1 point to confirm its qualifying and that’s what it will be working on when confronting Ghana’s Chelsea, and the attentions will be directed to the second game of the same group in which Zamalek will receive Congo’s Mazembe in as last chance to catch up and keep a slight hope in accompanying the Ahly to the Golden square.