Engaged in the final stretch of the season, some Africans are focused on finishing strong despite the different stakes. Between the race for the title and the fight for survival, the continent's representatives are playing for big stakes even if some are already looking ahead to next season.
Titles in sight
While Victor Osimhen officially became Italian champion on Thursday, March 4, that's not yet the case for several African internationals close to reaching the end of the tunnel. And the most exciting end of the season is that of Riyad Mahrez. The Algerian star is aiming for a treble with Manchester City. In contention to win the Premier League with their one point lead over Arsenal, the Skyblues also have a game in hand that could see them widen the gap and move closer to their 9th Premier League title. Mahrez and Manchester City are also in the running for another title locally with an FA Cup final to play against Manchester United. On the international stage, they start as favourites against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals with the aim of winning the competition for the first time in their history.
Senegal's Sadio Mané and Bouna Sarr, Cameroon's Eric Maxim Chupo-Moting and Morocco's Noussair Mazroui are also competing to win the Bundesliga with a one-point lead over Sebastien Haller's Dortmund. The fight is also exciting in Ligue 1 where Achraf Hakimi dreams of being crowned but despite the 5 point lead, the crisis in PSG suggests that Marseille's Chancel Mbemba and Lens' Seko Fofana, Massadio Haïdara and Abdul Samed can continue to believe in the miracle. Less pressure for Franck Kessie who should be champion in the next day with Barça in La Liga. Moroccan Oussama Idrissi is also close to winning the Dutch championship with Feyenoord.
In the European competitions, Ismael Bennacer's Milan and André Onana's Inter Milan are outsiders in their bid to win the LDC. In the Europa League, Youssef En-Nesyri and Yassine Bounou are favourites for the final victory, even if Edmond Tapsoba of Leverkusen and Mady Camara of Roma will not let themselves be beaten. Same issue in the Europa League Conference, Saïd Benrahma and Nayef Aguerd dream of European title with West Ham in competition with Fiorentina of Amrabat and FC Basel of Andy Diouf.
Objective of maintaining
In the depths of the rankings in European leagues, some Africans are struggling not to be relegated. In England, Gana Gueye (Everton), Andre Ayew, Emmanuel Denis (Nottingham Forest), Sulemana (Southampton), Patson Daka (Leicester) are all concerned with maintaining their position. In France, Youcef Belaïli (Ajaccio), Moses Simon (Nantes), Habib Diallo (Strasbourg) are trying to survive this end of season. In Italy, Boulaye Dia is not yet saved with Salernitana as well as Afena-Gyan (Cremonese), Nzola (Spezia), Banda (Lecce) are concerned. In La Liga, Djene (Getafe), Moriba (Valencia), Amallah (Valladolid), Bongonda (Cadiz) are not yet saved.
Attention turned to the next season
Meanwhile, there are some African players who have nothing left to play in this end of season and are already starting to look ahead to the next. With Chelsea's poor season, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy are already thinking about a change of environment and probably start a new challenge. In Germany, Bensebaini is in the middle of the ranking with Gladbach with the head to Dortmund that he will join at the end of the season. Not concerned with the struggle to hang on to the places in Europe, Terem Moffi with Nice has nothing left to play for in the next few weeks. The hope of winning the Dutch championship is minimal, not to say non-existent, so the head of Ibrahima Sangaré may be in the next mercato with a departure hoped for
