Nigerian champions, Kano Pillars, as well as two-time African champions, Enyimba and Dolphins will have to battle for second round places in Caf interclub competitions in mid-March and first weekend of April against tricky oppositions from North Africa.
The fourth club from Nigeria's top flight, Warri Wolves, who dislodged Burkina Faso's Racing Club de Bobo-Dioulasso over two legs, have a trip to the East of Africa.
It is the first time since 2013 that all of four Nigerian clubs will progress beyond the preliminaries of
the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup.
Moghreb Athletic de Tetouan v Kano Pillars
Nigerian champions will have to be at their best as they face the champions of Morocco in Moghreb Tetouan, who overcame a strong side in Malian outfit, Club Olympique de Bamako, on 3-2 aggregate to reach the first round of the Champions League.
When Kano Pillars face MAT in Morocco on the weekend of March 13, 14 and 15 in the first leg then Okey Emordi's men should prepare for a clash that will be no stroll in the park. They will face a team full of quality in the like of Mouhcine Iajour, Anouar Hadouir, Zaid Krouch, Mohamed Abarhoun, Zouhair Naim and Spanish winger, Cristian Hidalgo Gonzalez. If Kano Pillars pulls through Moghreb Tetouan and reach the round of 16, there is the likelihood they would face Egyptian giants, Al Ahly, who are favourites to go past APR in the first round.
Enyimba v Smouha SC
Smouha Sporting Club are new to Africa's biggest club competition, and that makes Enyimba top dogs in this match-up. But a former ABS FC and Dolphins midfielder, Stone Evbuomwan, who is now in the books of Egyptian side, Arab Contractor, have warned the Peoples Elephant that "they will face a very good team in Smouha because I have seen them play. Enyimba need to prepare very well for them if they want to beat them over two legs."
The Aba should expect the Alexandria club to come with the full complement of their squad. Ibrahim Abdel-Khalek, Salah Amin, Mostafa Talaat, El-Sayed Farid, Ahmed Nabil ‘Manga,’ Ahmed Shoukry and Ahmed Said ‘Okka’ are expected to be in the squad for the first leg, round of 32 in the Champions League clash at the Enyimba, but the Egyptian club still have Hani Al-Egeizi out injured, and he could miss out on the first leg clash in Aba.
Club Africain v Dolphins
Dolphins barely scraped through their Equatorial Guinean opponents, Leones Vegetarianos on penalties in the preliminaries of the Caf Confederation Cup, and now face 12-time Tunisian champions, Club Africain.
Dolphins will have their hands full as they are likely to face a Club Africain side with a startlist of Farouk Ben Mustapha, Yacine Mikari, Bilel Iffa, Hichem Belkaroui, Hamza Agrebi, Houcine Nater, Seidu Salifu, Tijani Belaid, Abdelmoumen Djabou, Zouhaier Dhaouadi and Saber Khalifa.
Warri Wolves v Dedebit FC
Wolves were imperious in the manner with which they dispatched Burkina Faso side, Racing Club de Bobo-Dioulasso (RCB), over two legs in the Caf Confederation Cup. The Warri club progressed on 4-0 aggregate to set up a round of 32 clash with Ethiopian club, Dedebit FC.
Dedebit certainly will not be pushovers as they have the like of Sisay Bancha, Seyoum Tesfaye, Birhanu Bogale, Taddele Mengesha and Dawit Fekadu, who have international experience with the Ethiopian national team. So Paul Aigbogun and his men will have to put up that same commanding performance that saw them defeat RCB 3-0 in Warri at the weekend when they play hosts to Dedebit in the first leg on the weekend of March 13-15.
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