Moroccan heavyweights Wydad Casablanca and Egyptian giants Al Ahly will clash in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final in Casablanca today , after the two sides shared a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Stade Mohammed V, 4 November, 20:00 (local time)
By the end of Saturday evening, we will know which club will be representing Africa at the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017 in December, with Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca all set to fight it out for that record prize of $2.5 million (about 2.1 million euros) and secure a place at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in December .
The North African duo met in Alexandria last weekend, as Wydad left Egypt with a moral victory, with Achraf Bencharki scoring an away goal to cancel out Moamen Zakaria’s third-minute opener. We expect to see a fierce All-Moroccan duel between Walid Azaro and Bencharki. Azaro has so far scored 4 goals while Bencharki scoring 5 goals both will want to claim limelight today.
After recovering from the blow of conceding an early goal, Houcine Ammouta’s charges defended stoutly in the first leg, while Mohamed Ounajem who has been ruled out of the second leg final and Achraf Bencharki worked their magic up front to allow Wydad to head back to Casablanca with a positive result.
The question is, what strategy will the Moroccan outfit adopt for the return? A goalless draw would be enough for them to clinch the title. Should Ammouta adopt a defensive gameplan, however, it would hand the initiative to their Egyptian opponents. Ammouta has been categorical “It will be suicidal to park the bus against a side like Al Ahly we have to play our game”He told AFP
Meanwhile his counterpart Hossam Al Badry is convinced they are going to create chances because their opponents are going to leave space for them. Their hopes are still intact
Given that attack is the best form of defence, it would be no surprise to see Bencharki and Co push forward in numbers, an approach they took in knocking out USM Alger in the semis following another first-leg stalemate.
Al Ahly have a good away record in the competition, however. Held 2-2 at home in the first leg of their last-eight tie against Esperance, they went to Tunisia and won 2-1, a scoreline they would be only too happy to repeat on Saturday.
Wydad have lifted the CAF Champions League trophy just once, in 1992 while Al Ahly looking for their ninth continental title, having already won it a record 8 times (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2013)
