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Preview: Will Al Ahly make it 3 in a row?

Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca lock horns in this hugely anticipated CAF Champions League final taking place on Monday in Morocco.

On Monday, 30 May, football lovers in Africa and beyond will witness the highly anticipated TotalEnergies CAF Champions final between Al Ahly and Wydad Athletic Club, kicking off at 9 PM at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

The build-up to the final has been marred by the heavily criticized decision made by the Confederation of African Football to give hosting duties to a country Wydad is from.

When this was announced Al Ahly challenged the decision, and some of its former players went as far as saying the team shouldn’t turn up on Monday in protest. CAF probably anticipated this backlash, to mitigate that they revealed discussions are underway to revert to the old two-legged home and away final to determine the winner, rather than a one-leg final. 

South African referee, Victor Gomes, has been given the honor of officiating the match, having shown his experience in the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. Gomes also took charge of the second leg of the 2020 CAFCL semi-final between Al-Ahly and Wydad which the Egyptian Red Devils won by 3-1. 

That’s all in the past though now, Mcebo Mpungose previews Monday’s final. 

Al Ahly 

The Egyptian giants are currently the defending Champions of the CAF Champions League, having won it back-to-back. Pitso Mosimane will be looking to become the first African coach to win the competition three times in a row, he’ll be pulling a Real Madrid with Al Ahly.  

On their way to the final, Al Ahly finished as runners-up in Group A having lost home and away to Mamelodi Sundowns. 

Al Ahly went on to beat Raja Casablanca in the quarter-finals winning 3-2 on aggregate before thrashing ES Setif with a 6-2 aggregate, where Percy Tau played a key role scoring two and setting up a few goals.

Speaking ahead of this game, Mosimane mentioned they have a few injuries due to their hectic schedule but they have enough experience to go for it again. 

“I am confident that we will win the Caf Champions League. We won back-to-back titles in the past two years and 10 times in total. So why not win the 11th title?” Mosimane said as quoted by KingFut.

“We will fight to win the Champions League. We played in the absence of important international players before under great pressure, and we are used to it.”

Mosimane’s team is also facing stiff competition once again in the Egyptian Premier League this season with Zamalek and Pyramids ahead of them in first and second spot respectively. 

Wydad Casablanca

Wydad Athletic, commonly known as Wydad Casablanca, will be chasing only their third CAFCL title when they play in front of home supporters on Monday. They last won this competition in 2017 and this season they have been one of the standout performers losing only once on their way to the final. 

Having won Group D with five wins, scoring 15 goals and only conceding five times during that time, Wydad got through the CAFCL quarter-final games with a whimper, squeezing through CR Belouizdad with a 1-0 aggregate win before sweeping aside Petro de Luanda 4-2 on aggregate in the semi-final stage. 

In terms of players to watch for, Wydad will rely on the experience of Yahya Jabrane, who also plays for Morocco. Jabrane has scored five goals in the CAFCL this season, despite playing as a defensive midfielder. Zouhair El Moutarahi and Guy Mbeza have both registered three goals in this competition so they’ll be worth keeping an eye on too. In Botola Pro 1, the premier soccer league in Morocco, Mbeza has 12 goals and three assists in 23 games. 

Wydad is on its way to winning its third league title in four years. They currently occupy the number one spot with 53 points after 24 games. 

Speaking of the CAFCL final, this is what their coach, Walid Regragui, had to say: 

“RS Berkane put us under pressure by winning the CAF Confederation Cup. We now have to win the Champions League for a Moroccan Super Cup,” he said.

“Al Ahly is putting us under a lot of pressure, look at what they are doing on social media. If they win, they will be heroes who won the title in Casablanca, but if they lose it will be out of their hands as they played the final in Morocco.

“Al Ahly is the favorite team to win the title, they are more experienced and they have history on their side. If we win, we will be very happy, especially since we didn’t make any transfers.”

PREDICTION: Wydad Casablanca 

As much as I respect AL Ahly and would’ve loved to give it to them but my money is on Wydad.
The fact that this game will be played in Casablanca gives them WAC a huge advantage which I think they will make use of.

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