Raja seek perfect start under Carteron

Caf Confederation Cup champions Raja Casablanca will be aiming to get their title defence off to the perfect start when they face group A rivals Hassania Agadir at Stade Adrar in Agadir on Sunday evening.

Kick-off is at 9:00pm CAT.

The Green Eagles clinched a second Confederation Cup title with an aggregate win over AS Vita last year, but almost didn't make it to the group stages of the 2019 edition having but narrowly edged a 2-1 two-legged win over Namibia's African Stars.

Raja beat Cercle Mbéri Sportif 5-1 on aggregate in the first round of qualifying before victory over Stars in the playoffs to book their place in the group stages where they were duly seeded alongside fellow Moroccan sides Hassania Agadir, RS Berkane and Congo's AS Otôho.

Patrice Carteron took over the reins as Raja head coach this week following the dismissal of Juan Carlos Garrido after a run of poor results.

The Frenchman is no stranger to African continental competitions, having notably guided TP Mazembe to the 2015 Caf Champions League title.

Carteron was most recently employed by Al Ahly who he led to last year's Caf CL final, eventually losing on aggregate to Esperance de Tunis.

He will be hoping to become only the third coach to win the both the Caf Champions League and Africa's second-tier club competition, the Caf Confederation Cup, after Tunisian Faouzi Benzarti and Ghanaian Cecil Jones Attuquayefio, following his move to Casablanca.

Hassania Agadir's passage to the group stages of this year's competition included aggregate wins over AS GNN, Generation Foot and Jimma Aba Jifar.

HUSA , who are newcomers to the mini-league phase of the competition, sealed a return to continental action after scoring 11 goals in three qualifying rounds.

Ivorian match official Bienvenu Sinko will take charge of the clash.