Al-Ahly in the match confirming their supremacy over Wydad and deciding to qualify for the Champions Final

Al-Ahly of Egypt hopes to confirm its supremacy over Moroccan Wydad Casablanca and reach the final match of the African Champions League soccer competition, when it hosts it tomorrow at Cairo International Stadium in the semi-final second leg.

Al-Ahly returned with a precious first-leg win from Casablanca last Saturday with two clean goals scored by Mohamed Magdy "Afsha" and Tunisian Ali Maaloul.

The new coach of Al-Ahly South Africa, Pitso Musimane, broke the Casablanca stadium knot, achieving the first victory after many visits in which he did not know the taste of victory, especially with his former club, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Musimani is looking forward to using the high morale of the team to lead him to the final match of the competition, which he seeks to win the title for the ninth time, and to consolidate his record in the number of titles in it (8 times, the last of which was in 2013).

It is expected that South Africa will not introduce changes to its squad that went into the first leg, as striker Marwan Mohsen and Nigerian Junior Ajaye organized training after suffering from pain after the first leg, while Mahmoud Abdel Moneim "Kahraba" returned to training and there is suspicion about his participation due to the incomplete recovery from the injury that was He was exposed in the Pyramids match in the 33rd stage of the league about two weeks ago.

The team joined a closed camp at the touch stadium in preparation for the meeting, and Musimani warned his players against complacency or recklessness and the return of Wydad, which is considered one of the top of the African continent, and said in a lecture to his players in preparation for the meeting, "We achieved victory in one half and the second awaits us in Cairo and we have not guaranteed qualification for the final yet."

"The Moroccan champion has nothing to lose

He will play without pressure and want to take revenge, "stressing the need to play with all seriousness and focus in order to confirm Al-Ahly's merit in reaching the final. Musimani also warned his players against the offensive rush due to the strength and speed of Wydad Casablanca's players in counter-attacks, insisting on the need to optimally exploit opportunities and score Aim early, and shoot a lot from outside the area.

Musimani is expected to renew his confidence in goalkeeper Muhammad al-Shennawi, who was a key factor in achieving the first-leg victory, especially after facing a penalty kick that Badi Awok took before the end of the first half, in addition to the Tunisian back, Ali Maaloul, Ibrahim Hanafi, Ayman Ashraf and Mohamed Hani in defense, and in the middle Amr Al-Soulia Ajay, Al Mali Aliou Diang, and Hussein al-Shahat and Marwan Mohsen, or "Kahraba" in the offensive.

On the other hand, Wydad seeks to appear at a different level to what it looked like at home, and thus try to return to the meeting and grab the qualifying card in the heart of Cairo, and avenge his loss in the first leg.

His Argentine coach Miguel Angel Gamunde is aware of the difficulty of the task of his team, which seemed exhausted in Casablanca after a fierce struggle for the league title (ended in favor of arch-rivals Raja), preceded by the infection of a large number of his players with the Corona virus.

Gamunde was forced to include midfielder Yahya Gebran in the center of defense in the first leg due to the many injuries he suffered, especially the Ivory Coast international Ibrahim Kumar, who recently recovered, causing the early goal of the Cairo team and then in the penalty kick that came from the second goal.

It is expected that the Argentine will make drastic changes in his formation, as Kumara will be ready to lead the back line in front of goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Al Teknouti, and Gebran may return to his original position as a focal point alongside Walid Al Karti and Ayman Al Hassouni, and in the attack Badi Awok, the Congolese Kazadi Kasungu and Ismail Al Haddad.

Gamunde may miss the services of defender Yahya Attia Allah because of the injury he suffered in the first leg, while midfielder Salah El-Din Al-Saeedi continues to be absent from "Wedad Al-Ummah" as he is subject to quarantine due to his infection with the Coronavirus, and Ayoub Al-Amoud due to a muscle injury.

Gamunde said in a press statement, "We lost the first-leg match with fatal errors, but we will not give up in the second leg and we will gather our strength and fight the match against Al-Ahly at the Cairo stadium with full strength and hope to qualify." He added, "We missed the match at our stadium, and we reached the semi-final and we were exhausted, mentally tense and we had injuries." Many are many, but WAC is a big team and we have to send a message to everyone that we are not giving up. "

And the president of the club, Saeed Al-Nassiri, allocated a huge financial reward for his team's players if they qualify.

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