APR FC head coach Abderrahim Talib has fired a warning to Pyramids that his side will this time be out to revenge against the Egyptian giants despite the latter being favourites on paper to win the pair’s upcoming tie in the CAF Champions League preliminary round. Pyramids and APR will face off in the preliminary round for the third time in a row after the CAF draw held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, over the weekend saw them pitted against each other again. Pyramids return to the CAF Champions League to defend the title they won last season and the army side now faces a mount to climb to eliminate them, in what Talib says would be an absolute revenge. For APR, this is a game of revenge,” Abderrahim told the club's website. “We are now preparing for the match against Pyramids FC and, by playing warm up matches, I hope to get the right game plan and tactics against them,” he added. As for the Champions League, I have a lot of experience in this competition. APR is not a small team, it is a strong team with good players, strong management and many fans. We will fight until the last minute. From now to September, we will have good technical training, we will have strength and compete at a high level. APR will first host Pyramids between September 19–21 in Kigali before visiting the African champions in second leg in Egypt a week later. Talib said people should keep confidence in the team and show some support to push it beyond the limits. Football is played for 90 minutes; it is not something that is written in advance. I ask Rwandan fans to come and support us because we represent Rwanda. We will use all our strength, style of play, will and dedication to please our fans. I am here at APR to change the mindset of the players. I have goals to perform well,” he added. The coach has been with APR for the past month or so. He said that he is satisfied with the group he had at his disposal and the fact that the players are young gives him a positive feeling of posing a strong test against any team on the continent. Their previous meeting ended in an embarrassing loss for Rwanda Premier League Champions. The last time the two teams met ended in Pyramids favour where they won 5-1 on aggregate (1-1 in Kigali and 4-1 for Pyramids in Egypt).
