While the controversy is still raging over the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decision to choose Morocco to host the final match of the African Champions League, the second leg of the semi-finals of the continental competition kicks off Friday, where Wydad Sports of Morocco will meet with its guest, Petro Atlético de Angola, and appointed in The stadium was appointed for the match between Al-Ahly and its guest and ES Setif of Algeria, tomorrow, Saturday, in the second leg of the tournament’s semi-final.
There will be an opportunity for the final of the tournament to be a purely Arab tournament for the fifth edition during the last six seasons, and then the continued dominance of Arab clubs on the title for the sixth consecutive season.
Wydad and Al-Ahly’s chances appear best in reaching the final match, which was announced by “K” last Monday, according to an official statement published on its official website, to be held in Morocco for the second consecutive edition on May 30th, which was opposed by the Al-Ahly administration in particular. In particular, which demanded that the final be held on a neutral ground, away from the stadiums of the participating clubs in the Golden Square, in order to achieve the principle of equal opportunities.
Wydad had defeated Petro Atlético 3-1 in the first leg match that was held between the two teams in the Angolan capital Luanda, last Saturday, while Al-Ahly won (4-0) over Setif on the same day in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to achieve the Century Club in Africa. His biggest victory in the history of his meetings with Algerian clubs.
It was enough for Wydad, who won the title in 1992 and 2017, to lose by two clean goals or by a single goal difference, during its meeting with its Angolan counterpart at the “Mohammed V” stadium in Casablanca, in order to reach the fifth final in its history in the Champions League.
On the other hand, the task of Petro Atlético, who scored his second appearance in the semi-finals of the Champions League after 2001, seems almost impossible to overcome the obstacle of his Moroccan counterpart, as he must win 3-0 or by two goals if he scored at least 4 goals to reach the final for the first time in its history.
This is the fourth match between the two teams during the current edition of the tournament, after they had previously been in Group D in the group stage, where Petro Atlético won two goals to one in Luanda, before Wydad achieved a landslide victory (5-1) in Morocco.
Kef decided to reduce the number of Wydad fans, who are allowed to enter the match, as 30 thousand fans will be present instead of 55 thousand, after the referee’s report condemned the team’s match with the Algerian youth of Belouizdad in the second leg of the quarter-finals of the competition, the storming of dozens of fans of the Moroccan team to the stadium and celebrating with the players ascension, in addition to throwing Crowds excessively ignite water bottles and fireworks at the meet.
While Wydad players and fans feel a great deal of reassurance and confidence in the team’s qualification to the final, Petro Atlético still clings to hope, as its fans still remember the big team’s 4-2 victory over Al-Ahly in Cairo in the two-group meeting of the competition in 2001.
And the fans of Petro Atletico dream of repeating that result against Wydad in its stronghold, as it will be enough for him to win the nomination paper for the final.
In the other meeting, ES Setif, the competition champion in 1988 and 2014, faces a very arduous task to cross the Al-Ahly obstacle, and reach the third final in its history in the tournament, where it must win by 5 goals over the red team to reserve the ticket for the final match.
For his part, Al-Ahly, the record holder in the number of Champions League wins with 10 titles, is enough to lose by 3 goals against its Algerian rival, to reach the final of the tournament, which he crowned in the past two editions.
Al-Ahly, who is participating in the semi-finals of the tournament for the 18th time in its history, hopes to consolidate its record as the most participating club in the Champions League final for the 15th time.
Al-Wefaq aspires to repeat what South African Mamelodi Sundowns did, who beat Al-Ahly (5-0) in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the 2019 edition, to incur a historic loss that is still fresh in the minds of all followers of African football so far.
But what increases the difficulty of Setif’s position are the impressive results of Al-Ahly in its last matches in the knockout stage of the tournament. Since its harsh loss against Sun Downs, the Egyptian team has not known the taste of defeat in its last 14 matches in the playoffs of the competition, during which it achieved 11 wins and 3 draws.
Before their expected meeting, ES Setif sent a strongly worded message to Al-Ahly, expressing its adherence to the dream of reaching the final, after achieving a sweeping victory by seven cleanly against its guest, Sari Relizane, in its last meeting in the Algerian League.
This will be the fourth match that will take place between the two teams in Algeria, where Al-Wefaq previously won 2-0 over Al-Ahly in the semi-finals of the competition version in 1988, before the Algerian team won penalty shootouts in the African Super match in 2015, after the original time ended in a 1-1 draw.
Setif continued his superiority over Al-Ahly in Algeria, after winning it with two goals to one in the second leg of the Champions League edition in 2018, but this victory was not enough at the time to qualify for the final, after the red team took advantage of its 2-0 victory in the first leg in Cairo.
Al-Ahly wants to avoid losing at least 12 matches in Algerian territory, after having played 11 matches in it, during which it achieved two wins, 4 draws and 5 defeats.