All eyes will be on the Mohammed V Stadium in Morocco on Monday, where the final of the African Champions League will be played between Egypt’s Al-Ahly and Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca, Africa’s most powerful teams.
The Egyptian giants dream of winning the title one more time.
However, the match will not be an easy ride for the team in any manner, especially with their opponents playing in their home country and amongst their diehard fans.
Wydad is bidding for their first title since 2017. It defeated Al-Ahly 2-1 in aggregate.
Al-Ahly booked their place in the final, after eliminating Algeria’s ES Sétif in the semi-finals 6-4 in aggregate.
Al-Ahly’s South Africa striker, Percy Tau, was involved in all six goals in the double-header.
Al-Ahly still dominates the record with ten titles.
Wydad had advanced to the final by overcoming Angola’s Petro de Luanda in the semi-finals 4-2 in aggregate, having won the first leg 3-1. The two teams drew 1-1 on the second leg.
The decision of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to stage the final in Morocco stirred up controversy.
This came after Al-Ahly’s administration objected to the decision and threatened to take the issue to court.
The Egyptian Football Association and Al-Ahly have already protested the decision, noting that it gave the Moroccan team full home advantage.
In a letter to CAF, Al-Ahly said the match should not be staged in the country of one of the finalists.
“This will preserve the equal rights of the two finalists,” the Egyptian team said. “It [the decision] contradicts fair-play standards.”
The Head of Operations and Media Relations at CAF, Luxolo September, countered by saying that CAF had addressed all African states to host the match.
He added, however, that only Morocco and Senegal had proposed to host it.
Then, September said in press statements, Senegal withdrew its bid to host the match, which was why CAF settled on Morocco.
Until 2019, the Champions League final was played over two legs before switching to single-match title deciders.
Cairo hosted an all-Egypt game between Zamalek and Al-Ahly in 2020.
Al-Ahly triumphed again the following season, against Kaizer Chiefs of South Africa in Casablanca.
Now, CAF is reconsidering reverting to two-leg finals.
Meanwhile, Al-Ahly’s coach, Pitso Mosimane, hopes to win his third successive Champions title and fourth overall, including one with South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.
Al-Ahly is believed to have the potential to have the upper hand during the final and hold the title.
Wydad’s coach, Walid Regragui, has conceded that Al-Ahly has greater potential to hold against his side.
“RS Berkane of Morocco put us under pressure by winning the Confederation Cup,” Regragui said. “We now have to win the Champions League for a Moroccan Super Cup.”
He added that Al-Ahly put his team under a lot of pressure.
“Al-Ahly is more experienced and have history on their side,” the Moroccan team’s coach said. “If we win, we will be tremendously excited.”
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