Former TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic has endured an indifferent start to continental football after his new side Young Africans lost two matches on the trot in a tricky Group A of the CAF Champions League. 

Ramovic’s troops suffered a 2-0 defeat to Sudanese giants Florent Ibenge’s Al Hilal Omdurman in their opening fixture at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium before falling short Algerian champions MC Algiers with a similar scoreline on Saturday. 

As a result, the Tanzanian powerhouse finds themselves in a precarious position, rooted at the bottom of the standings with zero goals scored and four conceded, and are desperate to collect points to boost their knockout stage qualification hopes. 

Yanga will swing back into action with a tough encounter against DR Congo giants TP Mazembe at Stade TP Mazembe on 14 December, an opponent they have defeated twice during the 2022/23 CAF Confederations Cup group stages. 

Elsewhere in Africa, Elias Mokwana’s Esperance de Tunis was held to a goalless draw away to resilient Sagrada Esperanca in Luanda, Angola on Friday. This comes after the Tunisians kickstarted their campaign with a 4-0 win over Djoliba AC of Mali. 

Now, with Esperance on four points, Pyramids will be looking to clinch their second win and take control of Group D ahead of their clash against the Malian outfit on Sunday following their 5-1 drubbing of Esperanca in matchday one. 

Meanwhile, Khanyisa Mayo’s CR Belouizdad closed the gap on both Al Ahly and Orlando Pirates after claiming their first victory of the campaign with a 1-0 win away to Stade d’ Abidjan on Saturday as the former Cape Town City man played the full 90 minutes. 

Despite a stalemate against Pirates, the reigning African champions remain at the summit of Group C due to a superior goal difference as they are level on four points with the Soweto giants while the Algerian giants are in third place after a round of two fixtures. 

On the other hand, Mamelodi Sundowns are in an unfamiliar situation as they are still in search of their first win after commencing with a 0-0 draw against AS Maniema Union at home followed by another 1-1 stalemate against FAR Rabat on Saturday. 

The Brazilians are currently in second place in Group B with two points accumulated in as many games. At the same time, runaway leaders Rabat have scored four points thanks to a 2-0 win over counterparts Raja Casablanca in their opening match.