TP Mazembe, Al Hilal and Moghreb still have all to play for in Champions League



A three-way tie at the top has set up Group A of the African Champions League for a thrilling September climax.

Al Hilal Omdurman, TP Mazembe of DR Congo and Moghreb Tetouan of Morocco have eight points each with five of the six matchdays completed.

Hilal lead on goals scored and Mazembe are second on goal difference as the three clubs seek top-two finishes and passports to the semi-finals.

Four-time title-holders Mazembe host Tetouan and twice runners-up Hilal visit out-of-contention Smouha of Egypt in the final round.

Mudather Al Tahir scored after seven minutes at the weekend to give Hilal a 1-0 victory over visiting Mazembe in a must-win match for the Sudanese outfit.

Spaniard Jesus Rodriquez Tato and Abdeladin Khadrouf, from a penalty, scored as Tetouan overcame Smouha 2-1 in northern Morocco.

But Moghreb suffered anxiety during the closing stages after Amr El Monoufy halved the deficit 13 minutes from time.

Both results were predictable as Hilal are virtually invincible at home with 13 victories and three draws in 18 group games.

Mazembe are the third most successful Champions League club after Al Ahly and Zamalek of Egypt, but they struggle away, winning just five of 24 mini-league matches.

Group debutants Tetouan boast an unbeaten three-game home record and Smouha have lost all three away last-eight mini-league matches in the premier African Football Confederation (CAF) club competition.

Group B has been settled with USM Alger sealing first place by whipping fellow Algerians and defending champions ES Setif 3-0 in Algiers.

Al Merrikh of Sudan, who will advance to the semi-finals as runners-up, came from two goals behind to triumph 3-2 at pointless MC El Eulma of Algeria.

CAF Champions League winners pocket $1.5 million (Dh5.5m) and secure a place at the 2015 Fifa Club World Cup in Japan.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara

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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5


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