The race for next season's CAF Champions League spots is heating up for two former Premier Soccer League coaches in North Africa.
Former Orlando Pirates mentor Josef Zinnbauer joined Algerian Professional League 1 club JS Kabylie in January 2025 from Saudi Arabian team Al-Wehda FC.
On the other hand, Sead Ramovic, the former head coach of TS Galaxy, made a surprising move in February by leaving his Tanzanian team, Young Africans for Khanyisa Mayo's CR Belouizdad.
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Zinnbauer has so far picked up six wins, shared the spoils on three occasions, and lost one match. Meanwhile, the Serbian manager won five, drew three, and lost two at Belouizdad. Both have so far overseen ten league games since their arrival.
From all appearances, Belouizdad and Kabylie are still in a close battle for the league title with log leaders MC Alger, the giants that Orlando Pirates eliminated in the CAF Champions League in the quarterfinals.
Ramovic's Reds have 44 points, while the Canaries are tied with MC Alger at 46 points, with just five games left until the end of the season. But Alger has one game in hand.
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Furthermore, considering the look of the standings, it is quite probable that the two coaches will compete in CAF-inter-club contests, one in the Champions League and one in the Confederation Cup.
Considering the fact that all three teams have been doing well lately, the remaining five games for Zinnbauer and Ramovic's team and six for Alger, are all must-wins.
