Yanga in better shape, ahead of TP Mazembe showdown – Sead Ramovic

Yanga are currently at the bottom of Group A with only one point from three matches, and they are meeting a Mazembe team that sits only a point ahead of them.

The two teams played to a one-all draw in Lubumbashi last month, and Ramovic says this game comes at a time when their fitness levels have improved.

"To have this kind of pressure if you play in a big club like Young Africans when I came four weeks ago, I saw that the team was not fit at all,” Ramovic said.

“Now in these four weeks, I have to give a lot of credit to my players for how they worked, and how they suffered every day to get to the level where I would like to see them which is amazing to see the characters we have in our group and we are in a better shape now."

Like Yanga, Mazembe, coached by Senegalese mentor Lamine N’diaye, the man who led them to their fourth CAFCL title in 2010 and also became the first African team to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final (lost 3-0 to Inter Milan), are still searching for their first win in Group A. Ramovic says they are well prepared for the Ravens.

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"And we are very happy to play the game tomorrow [Saturday] against a very strong team. It's not easy to play against them, they probably play the same style of play like they played in Mazembe which is kind of long balls to win the second balls to cross a lot into our box and we will face a very hard game,” the coach added.

“But we are very prepared and we are very happy now that we can bounce back because we have great individual players and we are starting now to be a team and this makes me very proud as a coach."