Al Ahly will be out to secure a place in the CAF Champions League final when they face hosts ES Setif for the return leg of their semifinal tie on Saturday night.
Kick-off at Stade du 5 Juillet in Algiers is at 9pm CAT.
MATCH BACKGROUND
Al Ahly take a 4-0 lead into this clash after a dominant showing against 10-man Setif in the first leg in Cairo on Saturday, 7 May.
The Red Devils are chasing an unprecedented third successive CAFCL title (as well a record-extending 11th overall), while the Black Eagles are looking for the biggest turnaround in a knockout tie in the competition’s history (three-goal deficits have been recovered six times, though all such examples have been in the preliminary rounds).
Tunisia referee Sadok Selmi will take charge of the match in Algiers on Saturday night. The aggregate winners will advance to the final in Morocco on 30 May and face either Petro de Luanda or Wydad Casablanca.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST LEG?
In short, Percy Tau happened. The South Africa striker both opened and closed the scoring in a 4-0 win for Ahly, while also providing assists for the other goals scored by Taher Mohamed and Mohamed Sherif.
The Red Devils could have racked up an even bigger score, but weren’t completely ruthless against a Setif team which played almost two third of the match with 10 men following the dismissal (after a VAR review) of midfielder Amir Karaoui.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE OTHER SEMIFINAL TIE?
It’s looking very much like Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca will meet in the final, as the other semi saw the Moroccan side win 3-1 away in Angola against Petro de Luanda, thanks to an own goal from Tiago Azulao and strikes from Yahya Jabrane and Guy Mbenza.
Petro pulled a goal back late on through Job, but had Willian Soares sent off for a second bookable offence in injury time.
Should Ahly and Wydad indeed go on to clash later this month, it will be a repeat of the final from 2017 which the Moroccan side won 2-1 on aggregate (note that the final has been played on a single-game basis since 2019-20).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ES Setif – Abdelmoumene Djabou
Though he was forced to feed off scraps for most of the first leg, Djabou still provided a few dangerous moments in attack. He will hope to play a more prominent role for Setif in front of their own fans on Saturday night.
Al Ahly – Percy Tau
The South African striker put up a masterful display in the first leg, scoring two goals and providing assist for the other two as Al Ahly claimed a crushing victory to put themselves on the cusp of the Champions League final.
WHAT THE TEAMS ARE SAYING
ES Setif coach Darko Novic acknowledges that they face a huge task in trying to turn the tie around, but is hopeful that they will put up a strong showing in front of their supporters.
“We are well prepared in Setif,” said Novic. “We conducted many technical analyses to choose our strategy in the two games.”
Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane insists that his side will take nothing for granted despite their dominant position.
“We have not qualified to the final. You will see our preparations are not going to be casual. Even the team over there will not be casual. I’ve been a coach for 21 years. I’ve seen teams turn the result from 4-0 to 5-4. Maybe it has happened here (Egypt) I’m not sure.”
He added, “Before the red card, we were playing well and controlled the game, but what would happen if we had won by just one goal with a man advantage? I would’ve been criticised by the media.
“When you create a lot of chances, you know you’re on the right track, even if you’re not scoring enough goals.”
HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS
In head-to-head terms, Ahly and Setif have met in four matches dating back to 2015. The first was the CAF Super Cup, which ended 1-1 (before the Algerians won on penalties), while matches two and three were in the semifinals of the 2018 CAFCL – the Egyptians won 2-0 at home in the first leg, while the return game was won 2-1 by Setif, with Ahly taking the tie 3-2 overall. The fourth was last weekend’s first leg of this semifinal tie, which Ahly won 4-0.
LINE-UPS FROM THE FIRST LEG
Al Ahly: El Shenawy, Hany, Ashraf, Ibrahim, Maaloul, Dieng, Fathi (Afsha 73’), El Shahat (Miquissone 68’), Abdelkader (Soliman 80’), Mohamed (Sherif 68’), Tau
ES Setif: Khedairia, Khotir (Debbari 77’), Belkaroui, Ferhani, Boutiche, Laribi (Nemdil 63’), Djahnit, Karaoui, Kendouci, Benayad (Motrani 63’), Djabou (Deghmoum 77’)