Qualifying round Ahly overcame South Africa's Bidvest Wits over two legs in March to book their place in the group stage. They claimed a narrow 1-0 home win in the first leg, thanks to a goal from defender Ahmed Hegazi, and held Bidvest Wits to a 0-0 second-leg draw in a dull affair to advance. Group Stage The Red Devils started the group stage with a highly disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Zambia's Zanaco but they recovered quickly with a valuable 2-0 away win at Cameroon's Coton Sports, thanks to first-half goals from Junior Ajayi and Moemen Zakareya. Both men were on target again to give them a 2-0 home win over Wydad but the Moroccans avenged the defeat with a 2-0 victory in Casablanca to leave Ahly's qualification hopes in the balance. However, Ahly ensured their progress to the last eight with a 0-0 draw at Zanaco and a 3-1 home win over Coton Sport, with striker Amr Gamal scoring twice either side of a goal from playmaker Abdallah El-Said. They advanced as Group D runners up with 11 points, one behind leaders Wydad. Quarter-final Ahly looked close to exiting Africa's flagship club competition when they played out an exciting 2-2 draw at home to Tunisia's Esperance in the first leg of the last-eight clash. Abdallah El-Said put the hosts in front with an early penalty but the enthusiastic home fans were stunned when Yassine Khenissi equalized midway through the first half after being found unmarked following a corner. A dreadful blunder from Ahly keeper Sherif Ekramy, who fumbled at a tame free kick early in the second half, gifted Esperance a second goal through Ghailene Chaalali but Moroccan striker Walid Azaro levelled the score on on 67 minutes. Ahly were more impressive in a second-leg to remember despite falling behind to a 40th-minute penalty from Khenissi. Their deadly counter attacking abilities saw them score two-second goals from Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul and the in-form Ajayi to silence Esperance's fans in Rades and book a semi-final spot with a 4-3 aggregate win. Semi-final Ahly also failed to take a first-leg advantage in the semi-final, this time on the road, as they lost 2-1 to Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel in Sousse. Etoile opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Alaya Brigui volleyed home from inside the area after some slack marking but substitute Saleh Gomaa brought Ahly level after robbing the last defender in the 67th minute. However, a long-range shot from Etoile's Mohamed Amine Ben Amor in the second half gave the hosts a first-leg advantage. But it did not really matter for a vibrant Ahly side who opened the floodgates in the second leg, recording a memorable 6-2 win over Etoile to reach the final. The night's hero was under-fire striker Azaro, who netted a hat-trick as Ahly ran riot. A strike from Ali Maaloul, an own goal from Hamdi Nagguez and a blistering shot from defender Rami Rabia condemned Etoile to an embarrassing loss. (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
