A Soufiane Rahimi brace, combined with another goal by the tournament’s top scorer Mahmoud Benhalib – his 12th of the campaign – helped the Moroccans to a comfortable 3-0 victory in their backyard last weekend, but they will not have it easy in front of an intimidating and expectant Congolese crowd at the Stade des Martyr this Sunday.
As three-time CAF Champions League winners, Casablanca last tasted continental success in 2003 after they beat Cotonsport 2-0 on aggregate in the CAF Cup (now Confederation Cup) final, their only victory in this tournament.
In Juan Carlos Garrido they have a coach who has won this competition before, having led Al Ahly to a Confederation Cup victory over Orlando Pirates in the final four years ago, with the Spaniard aiming to become the first coach to win the competition with two different clubs.
Casablanca, who have not lost in 90 minutes in their last 17 games across all competitions, have lost just one of their 15 matches played in the tournament so far this season, keeping nine clean sheets in the process, and will hope their defence will be at their best in Kinshasa as they look to reserve their healthy first-leg lead.
AS Vita, meanwhile, know they have a difficult but not improbable task ahead of them, and will take heart from Esperance’s comeback in the CAF Champions League final where they overturned a 3-1 first leg defeat to Al Ahly to win 3-0 at home and lift the trophy.
The DR Congo club are desperate for continental glory, having last won a trophy on the continent 45 years ago in their only Champions League success, coming agonisingly close four seasons ago, where they lost to Setif in the final.
Vita last featured in the CAF Confederation Cup in 2015 where they failed to make the group stages, but will be buoyed by their compatriots’ success in the tournament, with TP Mazembe winning the 2016 and 2017 titles back-to-back.
Under the guidance of coach Florent Ibenge, who also coaches the DR Congo national team, Vita will look to repeat their semi-final performance against Egyptian club Al Masry, where they registered a 4-0 win to progress to the final – that very scoreline is what will be needed on Sunday.
Vita will also take confidence from the result when these two sides last met: they were in fact in the same CAF Confederation Cup group this season, with Vita winning their home group stage encounter against the Moroccans 2-0, Raja’s only loss so far in the competition.
The overall winner of Sunday’s final will pocked a healthy $1.25 million (R17 million).
Kick-off is set for 21h00 South African time.