Renaissance Sportive de Berkane heads to Freetown this Saturday for one of the most closely watched fixtures of its young continental season. The Moroccan club takes on Star Sport Academy in the first leg of the decisive play-off round for a place in the CAF Champions League group stage. With no CAF-approved stadium available in Sierra Leone, the match kicks off at 4pm local time at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Sports Complex in Monrovia, a neutral venue regularly used for continental fixtures in the sub-region.
The stakes go well beyond a single away leg. Berkane has yet to taste victory this season, having drawn all three of its matches across competitions so far, an unusually flat run for a club that has lifted the CAF Confederation Cup three times and currently holds the CAF Super Cup. Only last season, the Berkane side reached the Champions League semi-finals before bowing out to Morocco’s own FAR Rabat.
Behind the scenes, the club enters this tie under new management. Tunisian coach Moin Chaabani, who guided last season’s run, departed to take charge of the Tunisian national team. His replacement is Cape Verde’s Pedro Bubista, who led his country at this year’s World Cup, a hire that signals Berkane’s ambition to bring fresh tactical ideas and international experience to a squad searching for rhythm.
Little is known about Saturday’s opponent. Founded in 2022 and based in Freetown, Star Sport Academy finished runner-up in Sierra Leone’s domestic league last term and advanced to this round by eliminating Gambia’s Medina United, drawing away before winning at home. The lack of continental exposure for the Sierra Leonean side adds an element of uncertainty to Berkane’s preparation.
To end the winless run and seize an advantage before next week’s return leg, Bubista is expected to lean on his attacking trio of Youssef Lemlioui, Chouaiar and Mehri. A positive result in Monrovia would hand Berkane real breathing room ahead of the second leg and offer a much-needed lift to a campaign that, three matches in, still awaits its first win.
