EUROMATCHNPFL champions Rangers International will be involved in one of the games of their lives when they go up against MC Alger at the Ali La Pointe Stadium in Algiers this Friday.
The match is the second leg, second round of the CAF Champions League and the Nigerian champions will aim to be one of 16 clubs to advance to the group stage.
The Flying Antelopes take a two-goal lead into Friday’s contest after late goals from Kenneth Igboke and Emo James handed the NPFL side the advantage in the first meeting at the MKO Abiola Sports Arena in Abeokuta five days ago.
It is a crucial fixture not just for Rangers but also for club football in Nigeria as this will have an effect on the country’s association for clubs next season should they fail to progress to the group stage.
Rangers’ 2-0 win brings back memories of 1976 in same competition then known as the African Cup of Champions when both teams clashed and the Nigerian champions won the first meeting 2-0 only to suffer a three-nil defeat in Algiers.
However there has been so much happening before the game following the misconduct of MC Alger supporters after the match in Abeokuta
CAF, on Thursday, did not grant Rangers’ request to have MC Alger play the match behind closed doors following their protest of misconduct by the Algerian club’s supporters.
On the other hand CAF’s disciplinary board has said it “will open disciplinary proceedings concerning the incidents reported during the first-leg match” in Abeokuta that led to vandalisation of stadium seats by MC Alger supporters.
CAF has already appointed experienced Ugandan Dixon Adol Okello as security officer for this match in Algiers.
The odds are stacked against Rangers despite a two-goal advantage but their head coach Fidelis Ilechukwu has said they will go into the contest as though they do not have any advantage from the first leg.
”We will put behind us the result from the first leg and focus on the task ahead. We have prepared ourselves like a team going into a game in which we don’t have any lead.
”We will do everything we can to get a good result,” said Ilechukwu.
The MC Alger versus Rangers match will kick off 8pm Nigerian time.