The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
🌟 TODAY #TotalEnergiesCAFCL
⚽ Vipers vs Horoya Feb 18
REST OF GROUP C FIXTURES – VIPERS
⚽ Vipers vs Simba Feb 25
⚽ Simba vs Vipers March 7
⚽ Vipers vs Raja March 17
⚽ Horoya vs Vipers March 31
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Vipers SC can put their TotalEnergies CAF Champions League group stage hopes back on track with victory against visiting Horoya Athletic Club from Guinea at St Mary’s stadium, Kitende on Saturday.
A strong performance will help the Venoms bury the memories of their 5-0 humiliation last week in Casablanca in their opening group stage match.
Captain Milton Karisa told the press on the eve of the key match for the Ugandan side that Vipers has what it takes to make amends for the false start. “”I can declare that our Champions League campaign starts officially tomorrow. We are at home and we have to show how good we are,” he said.
Karisa added that, “I am just calling on the fans to come out and back us. We want to go out tomorrow and make our fans proud. I’m sure it was hard for them to watch us against Raja. So, tomorrow we must make amends and give them something to cheer about.”
Vipers, he said, are capable of replicating defiant performances from the preliminary rounds, where they eliminated Olympic Real De Bangui from the Central African Republic and TP Mazembe in the second round.
This will be the second continental test for new coach Beto Bianchi who joined the club last month after replacing Roberto Oliveira. Oliveira had guided the Vipers to their first-ever appearance in the lucrative group stages and became the only second Ugandan team after KCCA FC, which qualified in 2018.
Bianchi urged fans and players to look forward and not back to the past. “It doesn’t help us to keep thinking of what has already happened, because we still have five games to play in the group stages, so the focus should be on getting the best results possible,” he said.
“We should quickly forget the first match against Raja Casablanca, and must now focus on what lies ahead of us.”
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |
| 1 |  Raja CA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 3 | Advance to knockout stage | |
| 2 | Â Horoya | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | ||
| 3 |  Simba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 | ||
| 4 |  Vipers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 0 |
