The winners of the CAF Champions League will be decided on Saturday, when Al Ahly and Kaizer Chiefs square off in the final in Morocco.
Al Ahly progressed to the final with a dominant aggregate win over Esperance Tunis, while the South African giants came out on the right end of a tight two-legged clash with Wydad AC.
Match preview
Al Ahly progressed through the group stage with relative comfort, finishing in second spot after collecting 11 points from their six games thanks to wins over Al-Merrikh, Vita Club and Simba, while only losing one game.
That saw them handed a quarter-final tie against Mamelodi Sundowns, and they took a 2-0 lead in the first leg thanks to goals from Taher Mohamed and Salah Mohsen, before Yasser Ibrahim made the aggregate lead 3-0 early in the second leg and a Mosa Lebusa goal would see the tie finish 3-1 on aggregate.
Pitso Mosimane's men then took on Esperance Tunis in the semi-finals, and a Mohamed Sherif goal would see them take a 1-0 lead into the away leg.
An Ali Maaloul penalty on the stroke of half time in the second leg settled Al Ahly's nerves, before Sherif again got on the scoresheet alongside Hussein El Shahat to see them come out as 4-0 winners, booking their place in Sunday's final.
Coming into the game on the back of three consecutive league wins since the beginning of July, most recently thrashing Misr Lel Makkasa 4-1 away from home, the Egyptian champions will go in search of their 10th CAF Champions League title.
Furthermore, they will aim to defend the trophy after defeating domestic rivals Zamalek 2-1 in the final last year.
To retain the title, Mosimane's men will have to get past a Kaizer Chiefs side who are on the hunt for their first CAF Champions League title.
The eight-time South African top-flight champions also qualified for the knockout stage in second place in their group, winning games against Petro de Luanda and group winners Wydad AC to finish on nine points.
They then took on Simba in the first knockout round, and they looked set to reach the final four after picking up a 4-0 win in the first leg thanks to a Samir Nurkovic brace and goals from Eric Mathoho and Leonardo Castro.
However, the tie would go on to be closer than Stuart Baxter's men would have liked, as a John Bocco brace and a Clatous Chama goal saw the second leg finish 3-0, with Kaizer Chiefs scraping through by one goal.
They would then clash with group rivals Wydad in the semi-finals, and took a 1-0 lead into the second leg thanks to a Nurkovic goal in the 34th minute.
On home turf, Kaizer Chiefs would stand strong to defend their one-goal lead, with the game finishing goalless, seeing the South African outfit meet Al Ahly in the final on Saturday.
They will now look to put a disappointing domestic campaign behind them and secure continental silverware, having finished eighth in the South African top flight.
- D
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
Team News
Mohamed Sherif will lead the line for Al Ahly, having hit five goals in 12 CAF Champions League appearances this season in their run to the final.
He should be joined by Taher Mohamed, who has hit three goals in this year's tournament, and Hussein El Shahat, who has found the net six times and registered six assists in 21 appearances in this year's Egyptian top flight.
Yasser Ibrahim and Badr Benoun are expected to partner up at the heart of the back four, shielding experienced goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy between the sticks.
The Kaizer Chiefs line will likely be led by Samir Nurkovic, who has hit three CAF Champions League goals this campaign, and Leonardo Castro, who scored six goals in 26 appearances in this season's South African top flight.
The back three of Siyabonga Ngezana, Eric Mathoho and Daniel Cardoso featured in both legs of their semi-final win over Wydad AC, and that should remain unchanged after two impressive clean sheets.
Al Ahly possible starting lineup:
El Shenawy; Tawfik, Benoun, Ibrahim, Maaloul; Al Sulaya, Dieng, Fathi; Taher, Sherif, El Shahat
Kaizer Chiefs possible starting lineup:
Akpeyi; Ngezana, Mathoho, Cardoso; Frosler, Blom, Katsande, Sasman; Blom; Nurkovic, Castro
We say: Al Ahly 2-1 Kaizer Chiefs
While the Egyptian side will come into this game as favourites to seal their 10th CAF Champions League title, we would not be surprised to see Kaizer Chiefs defy the odds with a victory.
Despite that, we still see Al Ahly having the required quality to retain their title and see off a strong outfit on Saturday.
Top tip
body check tags ::
Previews by email
