The African Champions League will enter a new stage of competition, as the first leg of the quarter-finals of the continental competition will start on Friday.
Six Arab teams participate in the Champions League playoffs after passing the group stage, which witnessed a resounding surprise with the exit of Zamalek - who has 5 titles in the tournament - from the competition early for the second consecutive edition, after bidding farewell to the competitions from the same role also last season, and also absent from the exit stage. The Tunisian team, Etoile du Sahel, who won the title in 2007, was also defeated in the tournament.
The quarter-finals will witness 3 purely Arab confrontations, led by Al-Ahly of Egypt with Morocco's Raja Casablanca, Algeria's ES Setif playing with Tunisian Esperance, and Algeria's youth Belouizdad with Moroccan Wydad Casablanca.
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Many observers see the Al-Ahly and Raja match as an early final for the tournament, especially as it is between the two teams that won the Champions League and the African Confederation last season.
This is the second confrontation between Al-Ahly, the record holder in the number of times to win the Champions League with 10 titles, and Al-Rajaa, who won the title 3 times within 5 months, after they met on December 22 last in the African Super match in the Qatari capital, Doha, and ended with a victory The Egyptian team on penalties after their 1-1 draw in normal time.
The confrontation of the two teams on Saturday in Cairo will be the first between the two teams in the Champions League after an absence of nearly 17 years, as the last meeting between them in the tournament dates back to August 2005 in the group stage.
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During the 6 meetings between the two African champions, Raja achieved two victories against one victory for Al-Ahly, while the same tie was imposed on 3 meetings.
Raja climbed to the knockout stage after topping the second group standings - which included ES Setif, Amazolo of South Africa and Houria Conakry of Guinea - with 15 points, after achieving 5 victories and receiving one loss.
On the other hand, Al-Ahly, who won the title in the past two seasons, qualified for the quarter-finals after being second in the first group, which included South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns, and the Sudanese Al-Hilal and Al-Marreikh, with 10 points after achieving 3 victories, one draw and two losses.
While Al-Ahly seeks to achieve a positive result that will facilitate its position in the return match that will be held at Mohammed V Stadium in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, Raja hopes to repeat its achievement, which it achieved nearly 23 years ago, when it defeated the Red Team with a clean goal in its home in the group stage of the 1999 edition of the championship. To become the first club in history to beat Al-Ahly in Cairo in one of the continental competitions.
ES Setif and Esperance are seeking a step closer to the semi-finals of the tournament when they meet tomorrow, Friday, in the first leg in Algeria, in a confrontation that is not without excitement between both teams that have previously risen to the podium in the tournament.
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While Esperance won the competition 4 times, the last of which was in 2019, ES Setif previously won the championship cup in 1988 and 2014, and it is the last Algerian team to win the title so far.
Esperance reached the quarter-finals after topping the third group standings - which included CR Belouizdad, Etoile du Sahel and Guaneng Galaxy of Botswana - with 14 points after achieving 4 wins and two draws, without losing any.
As for Setif, it climbed to the playoffs after coming in second in the second group with 9 points, after achieving 3 victories, while receiving 3 defeats, knowing that it is the owner of the largest number of defeats among the eight qualified teams for this round.
Shabab Belouizdad and Wydad Casablanca will face another struggle in the championship when they meet the day after tomorrow at the "5 July" stadium in the Algerian capital, in a confrontation that is the first between them in the Champions League.
This confrontation will not be less fierce than the other two meetings, especially since they are leading the league championship in their countries during the current season, as Belouizdad is in the lead by 9 points in front of its closest followers, while Wydad is at the top of the Moroccan League, 3 points ahead of its closest rivals, its traditional rival. Please.
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Wydad reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, which it won in 1992 and 2017, after topping the fourth group standings - which included Zamalek, Petro Atlético and Sagrada Esperanza of Angolans - after winning 15 points after winning 5 matches and suffering a single loss.
Since losing 1-2 against its host Petro Atlético, Wydad has won all of its last four matches in its group, which makes it want to continue this series despite playing the match away from its rules.
For their part, CR Belouizdad reached the quarter-finals for the second consecutive edition of the tournament, after coming in second in Group C with 11 points, after achieving 3 wins, two draws and one loss.
While Wydad relies on the strength of its offensive line, which scored 15 goals in its six meetings in its group, as the team that scored the most goals in the group stage, Belouizdad depends in the match on the ground and the public to achieve a positive result against the Moroccan champion.
As for the fourth meeting in the quarter-finals, it will bring together Petro Atletico, the "dark horse of the tournament", and Sun Downs, who viewers see as the most prominent candidate to win the title, according to his impressive results in the group stage.