CAF Champions League: Tout Puissant Mazembe, the reasons behind their return to the top table

Tout Puissant Mazembe now carry DR Congo's last hopes in the CAF interclub competitions. The Lubumbashi club secured a place in the Champions League group stage by knocking out Malawi's Nyassa Big Bullet in the second preliminary round, winning the first leg in Lilongwe (0-1) and the return in Lubumbashi (4-0). Mazembe are therefore the only Congolese club still in contention across the two CAF competitions, after V.Club went out in the first preliminary round of the Champions League and FC Saint Eloi Lupopo in the second preliminary round of the Confederation Cup.

Back among the big boys

The Ravens are back in the Champions League group stage this season, having been knocked out in the second preliminary round last season, when they were dropped into the Confederation Cup. This return to the big time is very promising for Mazembe, given the very good start to the season they are making both domestically and in Africa. The Ravens have played 6 matches in all competitions and won every one, scoring 17 goals without conceding, an average of nearly 3 goals per match. On the continent, Mazembe also recorded an away win against Malawi's Nyassa Big Bullet, in Lilongwe, something that had not happened for several years.

Lamine Ndiaye at the helm

This good start to the season for Tout Puissant Mazembe is down to a squad of quality, blending experienced players with good signings made this season, as well as the quality of the coaching of Lamine Ndiaye, the team's Senegalese coach. Since returning to the club in April 2023, the 60-year-old coach has resumed the rebuilding of a young side, in which he has managed to instil a winning mentality. Hence the very positive results, which point to an interesting rest of the season for the Ravens. But Lamine Ndiaye does not want to get carried away.

“Let us play in peace, and let's not imagine things at this stage. Let us move forward calmly without putting ourselves under pressure”, he said just after his club's qualification for the Champions League group stage. This season, Tout Puissant Mazembe aim to go very far in this prestigious competition and try to win a new title, after the most recent one in 2015. But before starting the Champions League group stage, the Ravens will have to play in the African Football League, where they will face Tunisia's Esperance de Tunis in the quarter-finals. The competition starts on 20 October.

Masiala Jonathan