Full name Tout Puissant Mazembe, the Congolese club is a historical powerhouse of African football, and have in recent years continued to flex their muscles both on the continent and domestically in adding to their bulging trophy cabinet.
Five times CAF Champions League winners, Mazembe lifted the 2015 trophy after a resounding 4-2 aggregate win over USM Alger, following up that victory with their first CAF Confederation Cup title last year after beating another Algerian side MO Bejaia 5-2 on aggregate in the final.
Having won back-to-back league titles in 2016 and 2017, Mazembe have 16 Linafoot titles to their name, three ahead of heavyweights AS Vita, making them the most successful club in the DR Congo.
Last year’s league victory earned them a place in the 2017 Champions League first qualifying round, where they were somewhat surprisingly ousted by Zimbabwean outfit CAPS United despite not suffering defeat: a 1-1 draw in Lumbubashi, followed by a goalless stalemate in Harare, meant the Zimbabweans progressed on the away goals rule.
Mazembe were thus demoted to the CAF Confederation Cup, but have not looked back since.
Twelve games later, they are still unbeaten and find themselves in the final, two games away from defending the crown they earned last year.
Following a 2-0 aggregate play-off win over Algerian outfit JS Kabylie in the final qualifier, Mazembe made light work of the group stages, winning three and drawing three of their encounters to top Group D, where a quarter-final tie against Sudanese club Hilal Obayed lay in wait. Trouncing their opponents 7-1 on aggregate, Mazembe then faced Moroccan outfit FUS Rabat in the last four – a much tougher task, where a solitary goal in Congo proved the difference as they qualified for the final.
Not since CS Sfaxien in 2007 and 2008 has a side defended their CAF Confederation Cup crown, with Mazembe eyeing a slice of history ahead of Sunday’s first leg in their own back yard.
The Congolose will be confident, having gone unbeaten in their last 18 games across all competitions – their last loss was a 1-0 league defeat to AS Vita in May.
This record must, however, be put into context: administrative in-fighting in Congo resulted in a delayed start to their domestic league, which only got underway over the weekend as Mazembe beat Ecofoot Katumbi 2-0 to begin their title defence in perfect fashion.
Prior to that, they had only played four matches over the previous four months, all of which were in the CAF Confederation Cup knockout stages, with the side taking part in a rigorous two-week intensive training camp in Rabat, Morocco last month to sharpen up ahead of the final.
SuperSport will take some solace by their opponent’s possible lack of match fitness, as well as the fact that their previous two meetings in the group stages both ended in draws.
Yet as defending champions, Mazembe’s record in the competition, their quality and considering they have yet to lose in this competition means they enter Sunday’s first leg final as favourites, as SuperSport look to upset the odds in their maiden continental showdown.