Egyptian side Al Ahly hold a 2-1 advantage over Moroccan outfit Wydad ahead of the second leg of their CAF Champions League final showdown on Sunday night.
Al Ahly dominated the first leg on home soil, racking up 12 shots while enjoying 65% of the ball. However, Wydad managed to limit the damage on Sunday.
Notre dernier entraînement avant se rendre au 🇲🇦#AllezAhly #AfriqueYaAhly pic.twitter.com/FfrbVVTV8j— Al Ahly SC 🇫🇷 (@AlAhlyfrancais) June 8, 2023
Notre dernier entraînement avant se rendre au 🇲🇦#AllezAhly #AfriqueYaAhly pic.twitter.com/FfrbVVTV8j
Goals from Percy Tau and Kahraba gave Al Ahly a 2-0 lead inside 60 minutes, but an 86th-minute strike from Saifeddine Bouhra handed Wydad a lifeline.
It is worth remembering that Wydad beat Al Ahly in last year’s CAF Champions League final, with the Moroccans defeating the Egyptians 2-0 in the single-match showpiece.
Wydad have reached three of their previous six CAF Champions League finals, triumphing in 2017 and 2022 while losing in 2019.
This season, after losing one of their six group games, Wydad knocked out Tanzania’s Simba before overcoming South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns to reach the final.
Having lost just two of their last 19 matches across all competitions - picking up 12 wins along the way - Wydad will be hopeful of turning the tie around.
As for Al Ahly, they have won the CAF Champions League a record 10 times, with eight out those triumphs coming since the turn of the millennium.
The Egyptian giants have featured in five of the previous six CAF Champions League finals, triumphing in 2020 and 2021 while losing in 2017, 2018 and 2022.
This season, Al Ahly qualified for the knockout phase on goal difference before dispatching Morocco’s Raja and Tunisia’s Esperance to book their place in a sixth showpiece in seven years.
Not only have Al Ahly won each of their last six games in all competitions, but they have also won 12 of their previous 13, underlining their dominance.
Head-to-head: Wydad and Al Ahly have met 12 times in the CAF Champions League. Al Ahly have claimed five wins, while Wydad have picked up three victories.
Across the past eight meetings, both sides have registered three wins, playing out two draws along the way. That tells you everything you need to know about the competitiveness of this fixture.
Team news: Wydad’s danger man is top scorer Bouly Junior Sambou, who has netted seven goals in 12 CAF Champions League appearances this season.
Al Ahly will be without injured trio Akram Tawfuk, Karim Fouad and Hamdi Fathi for the second leg. Their danger man is Percy Tau, who has notched five goals and five assists in the Champions League this term.
If the recent meetings between these two giants of African football are anything to go by, Sunday’s showdown is destined to be a close-fought battle.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Wydad and Al Ahly will play out a goalless draw in the second hand, handing the Egyptians the title.