APR head coach Eric Nshimiyimana wants his team to win the home game against Vital’O in Africa Champions League in the preliminary round by a big score before the return leg.
APR head coach Eric Nshimiyimana wants his team to win the home game against Vital’O in Africa Champions League in the preliminary round by a big score before the return leg.The Rwandan league defending champion will open their 2013 CAF Champions League campaign with a double-legged clash against the Burundian champions. The first leg will be played in Kigali on the weekend of February 15-17 and the return leg in Bujumbura on March 1-3, and Nshimiyimana insists that anything short of sound victory in the first leg will put his side in a tricky position ahead of the second leg. The APR coach said, "Vital’O have proved to be a good team whenever they have participated in this competition, they have been doing well so we expect a tough game against them.”"We are young team but we’re developing steadily as the season progresses. We have started our preparations early because of the huge task ahead. We are APR, so know we must do better in every competition” he said."To have a real chance in this competition, you have to win your home games and then take it from there in the return matches,” he said, adding that, "The Champions League is totally different from domestic competitions because if you are not at your best, you get punished.”He added, "We know it’s always important to win home match so you can go into the return leg with the right mentality and then fight for a win or draw away from home.” The winner between APR and Vital’O will meet the winner between Enugu Rangers of Nigeria and SC Do Principe of Sao Tome and Principe.Last year, APR managed to reach the first round and lost to Tunisia’s Etoile du Sahel 3-2 on goals aggregate after beating Kenya’s Tusker 1- 0 in the preliminary.