Title holders Al Ahly will come face to face with Moroccan giants Wydad Athletic Club in the final of the 2021/22 CAF Champions League tonight at the Mohammed V Stadium in Casablanca.
The Red Devils will hope to maintain their dominance on the continent by winning the trophy for the third successive year to mark the eleventh in their history.
Also, the Red Castles arguably have been the better side so far in this year's competition and will be looking to clinch their third having previously conquered in 1992 and 2017.
The last time both teams met in the last two of the same competition was in 2017 and it was the Moroccans who carried the day with a 3-2 on aggregate win, having drawn 1-1 in Alexandria before sealing a 2-1 victory back home in Casablanca to emerge as champions.
Al Ahly had a very shaky and a jittery start to the competition after finishing second in Group B with 10 points, typical unusual as they trailed leaders of the group Mamelodi Sundowns with six points. They recorded three wins out of the total six games, a draw and two back to back loses to the South African champions.
In the knockout stages, the grand masters edged out another Moroccan giants Raja Athletic Club before humiliating ES Setif from Algeria in the semi final with a 6-2 on aggregate triumph.
On the other hand, Wydad AC bossed Group D really well and exhibited their superiority over other teams by winning five with just a defeat, giving them 15 points to lead.
They were handed a very tough game by CR Beloiuzdad in round 16 but managed to narrowly eliminate the Algerians before taking out Petro Athletico 4-2 in the semi final.
TEAM NEWS
Al Ahly gaffer Pitso Mosimane- who is chasing his fourth title has confirmed he has a full strength squad to parade today and has also welcomed back center back Badr Banoun who has out for sometime now due to injury.
Mozambique international Luis Miquissone has been ruled out of the game due to an injury he picked in the semi final against Setif.
Coach Walid Regragui on the part of WAC, has all his players fully fit and poised for the big game coming up except Libyan forward Muaid Ellafi who continues to nurse his anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Probable line ups
Al Ahly: Mohammed El Shenawy, Mohammed Hany, Ali Maaloul, Ibrahim Yaseer, Ayman Ashraf, Aliou Dieng, Hamdi Fathi, Hussein El Shahat, Taher Mohammed, Ahmed abdelkader, Percy Tau.
WAC: Ahmed Tagnaouti, Ayoub El Amloud, Yahia Allah, Achraf Dari, Amine Barhani, Yahya Jabrane, Jalal Daoudi, Reda Jaadi, Badie Aouk, Ayman El Hassouni, Guy Mbenza
CHANNELS
GTV Sports, SuperSport and more
KICKOFF
1500GMT (3:00pm)
By: Iddriss Abdul Rahim
