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Ahly out for revenge in Champions League Facing Esperance on Saturday, Ahly wants to avenge last season's semi-final defeat in the CAF Champions League
Ahly will be looking to avenge their semi-final exit at the hands of Esperance last season. Now that they are facing the Tunisians away from home in Saturday's CAF Champions League encounter, the Egyptian champions must be poised to kill. Ahly failed to reach their fifth final in six yearswhen they lost to Esperance on the away goal following a 2-2 aggregate draw. But refereeing was controversial: both Ahly's Mohamed Fadl and Esperance's Michael Eneramo scored two goals with their hands over two legs. Tunisian authorities initially said that Saturday's match will be played behind closed doors for security reasons before backtracking on their decision few hours later. However, they said only 5,000 Esperance supporters would be allowed to attend the match. Ahly's visiting 200 fans will also watch the game at 7 November Stadium in Rades. This is the second match to be played between Egyptian and Tunisian outfits following popular uprisings in both countries which toppled autocratic presidents Hosni Mubarak and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, respectively. Zamalek played Tunisia's Club Africain in April during the Champions League preliminary round. The second leg, which took place at Cairo Stadium, was called off in stoppage time after thousands of fans invaded the pitch. Ahly will be aiming to make up for a disappointing 3-3 home draw by Morocco's Wydad Casablanca in their group stage opener. Esperance held Mouloudia Alger to a 1-1 draw in Algeria. Esperance coach Nabil Maaloul said Ahly striker Emad Meteb could pose the greatest threat to his side, which won Africa's premier club competition once in 1994. “Meteb is a striker with special abilities. He is one of the best players in Africa now,” Maaloul told the pre-match news conference. “He is energetic and capable of unsettling opposing defence. We have to keep a close eye on him tomorrow.” Esperance are approaching the match in a buoyant mood, having completed the domestic double after beating Etoile Sahel 1-0 in the Tunisian Cup final last Monday. But Maaloul must deal with the absence of several regular players, including defenders Yaya Banana of Cameroon and Mohamed Ben Mansour and the midfield trio Khaled Korbi, Youssef Msakni and Aymen Ben Amor. Ahly will miss Mauritanian striker Dominique da Silva, who scored against Wydad, due to abdominal strain. Meteb is expected to spearhead the Red Devils' three-man attack, which could also include Mohamed Nagy "Gedo" and Mohamed Barakat.
