No Nigerian club will feature in the money-spinning group stage of this year’s CAF Champions League after Rivers United followed Plateau United to exit the competition tonight.
NPFL champions Rivers United lost 6-0 to Wydad Casablanca of Morocco and were thus eliminated 7-2 on aggregate having won the first leg in Port Harcourt 2-1 a week ago.
Rivers United will now drop down to play off for a place in the group phase of the CAF Confederation Cup, same as Plateau United who were eliminated by Esperance of Tunisia.
Tonight, Rivers United fell behind to defending champions Wydad after just 31 minutes.
Their problems were compounded when Ghanaian goalkeeper Mutawakilu Seidu was sent off for elbowing a Wydad player inside the box and the home team converted the resulting penalty to make it 2-0 going into the break.
They conceded a third goal soon after the restart, before the home team extended their lead with a fourth goal in the 55th minute.
The Moroccans completed the rout with two more goals late on as a promise of $40,000-a-man bonus failed to lift the NPFL champions to upset the African champions.
Both Rivers United and Plateau United will know their Confederation Cup playoff foes tomorrow when the draw is conducted.
