April 6; First leg33Rayon Sports Vs Costa do Sol

April 17-18; 2nd legCosta do Sol Vs Rayon Sports

Rayon Sports head coach Ivan Mineart has admitted that his team will have no choice but to "get a big win at home” when they host Mozambican side Clube de Desportos da Costa do Sol for the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup playoffs tie.

The Azam Rwanda Premier League champions will host the first leg in Kigali on April 6 before travelling to Maputo for the return leg, scheduled for the weekend of April 17-18.

Rayon Sports dropped to CAF Confederation Cup after a 2-0 aggregate loss at the hands of Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in CAF Champions League first round.

The Rwandan side held the 2016 African champions to a goalless draw on March 7 in Kigali but Pitso Masomane’s men coasted to a 2-0 home win in the second leg on Sunday, in Pretoria.

The winner of the two-legged tie between Ivan Minneart’s men and Mozambique’s most successful football club will advance to the group stage of the continent’s second biggest club competition.

Should the 8-time Rwandan champions eliminate Club Desportivo Costa do Sol, it will be the first time for a Rwandan club to reach the group stage of any CAF competition.

Mineart said that they need to get a convincing result in the first leg; "Our hope is to play well and win the first leg by a good score line, which would put us in a good position ahead of the second leg in Maputo, if we to qualify to the group stages.”

"It’s going to be a big game for us. In the Champions League, we played against a big team (Mamelodi Sundowns), which we caused problems and we will go into this stage hoping to advance, we have got the quality to achieve our goal,” Mineart said in reaction to the Wednesday night draw.

Talking about the loss against Mamelodi Sundowns, he said; "Even big teams like us sometimes lose matches but they don’t lose hope because of one defeat we will work hard and we believe we can do better.”

"We have a good side but we have to show our capability, especially in the first leg, which will be played at home. Desportivo Costa do Sol are a very strong team, but I am confident we will perform better over the two legs,” the Belgian noted.

Last season, Rayon played the CAF Confederation Cup as Peace Cup winners and managed to reach this very same stage – the playoffs – where they were eliminated by Nigerian side Rivers United.

Under the tutelage of Burundian Djuma Massoudi Irambona, Rayon knocked out Wau Salaam of South Sudan in the preliminary round and Mali’s Onze Createurs in the first round.

About Clube de Desportos da Costa do Sol

Clube de Desportos da Costa do Sol, commonly known as CD Costa do Sol or simply Costa do Sol, is a Mozambican sports club based in Maputo. They play in Moçambola, the topflight division in Mozambican football.

Founded on October 15, 1955, Costa do Sol won its first title in 1979 – the Mozambican league – and today is the highest decorated club since the country’s independence in 1975.

The club hosts their home matches at Estádio do Costa do Sol, an arena with capacity of 10,000 people.

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