European clubs are back in the competition with several African stars ready to win their first trophy of the 2022-2023 season. Here is three appointments not to be missed this weekend.
Epic reunion between Liverpool and City
Last season, Liverpool and Manchester City treated fans to a thrilling two horse race at the top of the Premier League. They also played three great matches. The two in the league ended in a breathtaking 2-2. And the third in the FA Cup semi-final, it was folded by Sadio Mané who put a double and allowed the Reds to take the lead 3-2. The Senegalese was often a tormentor of the Citizens against whom he scored 10 goals in 19 confrontations. However, he left the ship this summer and will not be there for the reunion.
Despite Mané's absence from the Community Shield, Leicester's King Power Stadium will be filled with African stars. In the ranks of the Skyblues, there will be the former home, Riyad Mahrez. Champion with the Foxes in 2016, the Algerian has continued his rise with City where he piles up the goals and collects trophies. On the other side, Liverpool still has an armada of Africans. The star of the team Mohamed Salah has extended and certainly wants to prove that even without Mané, he is capable of carrying this team. The Guinean midfielder Naby Keita and the Cameroonian defender Joel Matip will also be in the game.
Mané's first with Bayern
One of the advantages of signing for Bayern, which has practically everything in Germany, is that from his first game, you can already add a line to his record. For his first game with his new colors, Sadio Mané has, indeed, the opportunity to win the German Super cup. At Bayern, there are three Africans with three completely different statuses.
SM17 who arrives in the skin of the super star, the Cameroonian Eric Choupo-Moting who is a joker and the Senegalese Bouna Sarr who plays very little. The Munich team will face Leipzig, winner of the last German Cup, and which is a team in full progress these last years. If RB is still below Bayern, which won their last three matches, on a cup match anything can happen. Three Africans are in this club: the midfielders Amadou Aidara (Mali) and Ilaix Moriba (Guinea) and the Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman back from a loan at Leicester.
PSG-Nantes, the revenge match
Last May, Nice was in the final of the French Cup with Christophe Galtier on the bench. Nice lost to Antoine Kambouaré's Nantes. A few months later, Galtier found himself in front of the Canaries with this time a formidable Parisian machine and its superstars. There is the Champions Trophy at stake. A revenge for the technician.
On the other side of the field, Antoine Kambouaré always has a revenge to take when he faces his former club Paris. In their first year in charge of the French capital club, the Qataris had sacked the coach at the truce when he was leading the championship. Beyond this story of revenge to take, several African stars will be present in both camps. PSG has the African champions Abdou Diallo and Idrissa Gana Guèye as well as the Moroccan Achraf Hakimi. In Nantes, there is the Cameroonian defender Castelletto, the Malians Abdoulaye Sylla and Charles Traoré, the Congolese midfielder Moutoussamy and the Nigerian striker Moses Simons.
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Community Shield
Liverpool vs Manchester City
German Super cup
RB Leipzig vs Bayern Munich
Sunday, July 31, 2022
Champions Trophy
PSG vs Nantes
