TP Mazembe: the reasons behind a worrying start to the league season
TP Mazembe have made a worrying start to the league season, with two draws and a defeat from their first three matches.
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You would have to go back a very, very long way to find TP Mazembe without a win after three outings at the start of a league campaign. But that is exactly where the black-and-white Lubumbashi club find themselves.
The reigning DR Congo champions have just two points after three rounds of the illicocash Ligue 1 this season. The Ravens were held by two newly promoted sides, AS Malole (1-1) and FC Tanganyika (0-0), before losing the big Lubumbashi derby to FC Saint Éloi Lupopo (1-0).
Departures not replaced and a FIFA sanction
In three matches, TP Mazembe have scored only one goal, struggling for cutting edge up front. That can be explained by a shortage of good attacking players in the squad after the many key players who left during pre-season and at the start of the season.
Among those players are Joël Beya, Philippe Kinzumbi, Glody Likonza and Augustin Oladapo. The latest to jump ship, and no small loss, is Mali's Fily Traoré, the club's top scorer last season and the league's top scorer with 25 goals. He left for Libya without the club's consent.
Read also: TP Mazembe: the incredible wave of departures of key players
None of these departures has been covered so far, because TP Mazembe cannot register new players before 2025, owing to a FIFA sanction imposed over disputes with former players brought before the international body. Even though those disputes have been resolved, Mazembe will only be able to register new players in 2025 and must keep playing with their current squad.
Getting back on track before the Champions League group stage
If things are not going well in the league, Mazembe have done well in the Champions League, reaching the group stage after comfortably knocking out Zambian side Red Arrows in the second preliminary round, beating them 2-0 away in Ndola and 2-1 at home in Lubumbashi.
But things look set to be much tougher in the group stage, where the Ravens will face some formidable opponents, including Sudan's Al Hilal, Tanzania's Young Africans and Mouloudia Club d'Alger. TP Mazembe will play almost the entire group stage without strengthening their squad. Hence the need to rediscover their form in the league first, before the Champions League group stage begins at the end of November with the home game against MC Alger. Mazembe's next league match is this Thursday, 24 October, against CS Don Bosco.