After losing 3-4 in the first leg of the match, the team known as The People’s Elephants needed a one-goal edge to advance to the next round of the championship.
Enyimba, the league’s all-time leading scorer, was eliminated from the CAF Champions League after a scoreless tie with Libya’s Al Ahli Benghazi.
After losing 3-4 in the first leg of the match, the team known as The People’s Elephants needed a one-goal edge to advance to the next round of the championship.
Coach George Finidi’s team, however, was unable to score on Sunday at the Enyimba Stadium in Aba, thus it was not to be.
The Nigerian champions, the first club team from the nation to achieve so, will be ousted in the first round of the event they have won twice for the first time since 2015.
After the first qualifying round, Enyimba was one of two past champions to withdraw, the other being V Club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Ivory Coast’s ASEC Mimosas, Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel, Morocco’s FAR Rabat, Guinea’s Hafia, and South Africa’s Orlando Pirates all earned spots in the round of 32.
Enyimba, the 2003 and 2004 African champions, recently named former Arsenal player and Nigerian star Nwankwo Kanu as chairman and expressed confidence in their ability to have an effect on the continent.
They managed to score three goals in the imposing citadel of Benghazi, but they were unable to score even one goal at home. Enyimba would have won the match with a 1-0 victory.
Africa still uses the away-goal rule in club championships, in contrast to Europe, which did away with it two years ago.
Benghazi will now play ASEC for a spot in one of the 16 groups after their finest Champions League performance came in a 2014 qualifier when they defeated the then-champions Al Ahly of Egypt.
Less than a day prior to Enyimba’s elimination, Bendel Insurance advanced to the next round of the CAF Confederation Cup after defeating Aso Chlef 4-3 on penalties. The two-leg match had concluded in a draw.
