CAF Champions League

Mar. 11

First round: 1st leg

APR vs Young Africans

APR central defender Abdul Rwatubyaye has urged his teammates to be more focused ahead of the CAF Champions League first qualification round tie against Young Africans (Yanga SC) of Tanzania.

The 15-times Rwandan league champions host the first leg on Saturday, March11 in Kigali and the second leg in will be in Dar es Salaam on March 19with the winner of this tie facing Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the second round.Yanga set up a date with APR after eliminating Cercle de Joachim of Mauritius.

Rwatubyaye scored a hat trick in the 4-1 win against Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland in the second leg of the preliminary round on February 28, as APR progressed on a 4-2 aggregate score, having lost the first leg 1-0.

"We want to reach as far as we possibly can in the CAF Champions League, and winning more games will give us more confidence. We don’t want to be eliminated early in the competition,” the 19-year-old Rwanda international said.

Rwatubyaye, who has kept team captain Ismail Nshutiyamagara out of the team, added, "We have to play against the top teams in Africa to able to earn more confidence and experience.”

"And now with Yanga coming up next, we need to be more focused, determined and also believe that we have the ability not only to beat them but also go far in this competition,” noted the APR academy product.

Meanwhile, five-time champions TP Mazembe will begin their defence of the CAF Champions League when they travel to Saint George of Ethiopia in the first round.

Mazembe were one of several top clubs who drew bye in the preliminary round of the competition. Others included Egypt’s Al Ahly, Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia), Algeria’s ES Setif as well as Sudan giants Al Hilal and Al Merreikh.

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