Remo Stars and Enyimba have been knocked out in the first round of the 2023-24 CAF Champions League qualifiers after suffering aggregate defeats to Medeama and Al Ahly Benghazi respectively.
The Sky Blues were making their maiden appearance in Africa’s top club football competition and approached the return leg with 1-0 loss from the first leg in Ghana.
After more than an hour of goalless action in Ikenne, Daniel Ogunmodede’s side took the lead in the 73rd minute via an own goal from a Medeama player to level the tie 1-1 on aggregate.
Hard luck! #CAFCL | #WeAreRemoStars pic.twitter.com/NMjEqVOGek
— Remo Stars Sports Club (@RemoStarsSC) August 27, 2023
The game went into penalties and Remo Stars missed three spot kicks while Medeama missed two, handing the Ghanaian outfit progress into the Champions League second and final qualification round.
Meanwhile in Aba, Enyimba played out a goalless draw with Al Ahly Benghazi which was enough for the Libyan side to progress to the next round after their 4-3 victory in Benghazi last week. It was the first time since 2015 that the People’s Elephant failed to make it past the first qualification phase and the third occasion in that period they failed to make to make it to the group stage.
❌️ Enyimba FC got knocked out in the first round of a CAF Competition for the first time since 2015. Eliminated.
2015 – First Round
2016 – Group
2018 – Semi Final
2019 – Quarter Final
20/21 – Quarter Final
21/22 – Playoff
23/24 – First Round pic.twitter.com/WKxwTaMWEz— Opta Nigeria (@OptaNGR) August 27, 2023
Remo Stars and Enyimba’s exit means there is no longer any Nigerian representative in this season’s CAF Champions League.
The only representative left on the continent is Bendel Insurance. The Benin City outfit defeated Algerian side ASO Chlef 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate score on Saturday and have now progressed to second and final qualification round of the CAF Confederation Cup.
