The second legs of the maiden African Football Leagues will be played on Wednesday afternoon in Cairo and Rades.
Egypt vs South Africa and Tunisia vs Morocco. These games on paper look very exciting and competitive with a place in the finals at stake.
4 interesting things to look out for
- No tie is over
1-0 Home victories for Sundowns and Wydad vs Al Ahly and Esperance respectively means both ties are finely poised. Any team leading 1-0 against Al Ahly in the first leg knows the tie is wide-open.
“We’ve got to knuckle down now and focus on what will be a very difficult second leg,” Rulani Mokwena admitted”.
Al Salam Stadium in Cairo will welcome Sundowns on Wednesday afternoon. A tense affair is expected with Percy ready to punish his former side.
Esperance will hope to overturn the 1-0 defeat they suffered in Casablanca on Sunday. Tarek Thabet, the Esperance gaffer believes his side can still qualify for the finals. With the experience, Moez Ben Cheirifia in the post, will be protected by Tougai and Meriah at the heart of Esperance’s defence.
Talented players like Oussema Bouguerra, Houssem Ghacha, Houssem Teka and the Brazilian duo of Rodrigo Rodrigues and Yas Sasse can turn the tie around.
The two games are very open to all the four teams.
2. Will it be an all-North African affair in the finals?
The North African dominance in the CAF club competitions is maddening. No other region dares to challenge them. The last 10 seasons in the CAF Champions League have seen 8 winners from the UNAF Region, ES Setif (1) Wydad (2), Esperance (2), and Al Ahly (3).
Only TP Mazembe (14/15) and Sundowns (15/16) have won the coveted trophy outside the North African Region.
With three teams in the semi-finals in the newly organised African Football League, are we to see another dominance from the North Africans or Sundowns will transcend them?
3. Will Mamelodi Sundowns have the mental edge over Al Ahly?
Masandawana are unbeaten in their last 6 games vs Al Ahly having won 4 and drawn 2. 20-year-old midfielder Thapelo Maseko’s powerful shot in the 52nd minute was enough to secure Sundowns an important 1-0 victory over the Cairo giants.
Sundowns lost their first 5 away encounters vs Al Ahly but have now gone unbeaten in the last 2. One win (0-1) in 2022 and one draw (2-2) in 2023.
Mamelodi Sundowns have become a thorn in Al Ahly’s flesh. They now have a mental edge over the Egyptians in recent years. Will they continue it?
4. A charged atmosphere is expected in Rades.
African football gets much more exciting when two North African sides meet. A fixture between Wydad and Esperance will always be a game fit for the gods. Wydad led by a lone goal on aggregate having won in a fully-charged Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca by Hicham Boussefiane’s 58th minute goal. 2019 will always come to mind when Wydad plays Esperance.
Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in Rades will witness fireworks on Wednesday afternoon. Esperance fans will be there in their numbers and will try to unsettle Adil Ramzi’s men. They will paint the stadium red accompanied by flares.
