CAF CC: We have tough opponents – Ibenge

Morocco’s RS Berkane head coach Florent Ibenge believes his side was drawin in a tough group, but the 2019-20 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup champions target is to go through.

Ibenge talked to Cafonline.com following the draw that was held this Tuesday in Cairo.

“We have three tough opponents,” Ibenge said. Simba came down from the Champions League and is doing very well at the continental level.”

“ASEC is known well, and USGN of Niger which eliminated DR Congo’s DC Motema Pembe. We will have to prepare for these matches with the utmost seriousness,” added the former coach of DR Congo giants AS Vita Club.

Ibenge joined Berkane last summer, and he aims at seeing his side going back to the top especially in the CAF Confederation Cup, a tournament he reached the final as a coach with AS Vita in 2018.

“Our goal is to take one of the top two spots at the end of the group stage to reach the next round. It will not be easy, but it is up to us to work well.”

With AS Vita, Ibenge has won two DR Congo championship titles in 2015 and 2018, and also reached the CAF Champions League final in 2014.

In Berkane and despite his big record, Ibenge knows there are a lot of demands. The Moroccan club won the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup in 2020 but were eliminated in the group stage last season.

The ambition for this season is to reclaim the title.

To do this, RS Berkane was greatly strengthened last August, with Zambian Clatous Chama, Congolese Chadrack Lukombe and Moroccan defender Hamza El Moussaoui arrived with Ibenge to add to the experienced Issoufou Dayo, Larbi Najji and Omar Namsaoui.

After eliminating US Ben Guerdane of Tunisia and Rwanda’s APR, Berkane will open the group stage next February welcoming USGN, before moving to Abidjan to face ASEC, and then finish the first round at home to Simba.