Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane paid tribue to predecessor Rene Weiler for the team's 42nd Egyptian Premier League title, saying he hopes to deliver the Champions League trophy after a seven-year drought. Mosimane was named as Ahly's coach on 2 October, succeeding Weiler after the Swiss tactician led the Red Devils to a fifth consecutive league title with six rounds to spare last month. "I want to thank Weiler because he was the one who won the title," the South African coach told ONTime sports channel after Ahly defeated Talae El-Geish 3-0 in their final league game of the season on Saturday. "I also want to thank mister president Mahmoud El Khatib "Bebo", who gave me the chance to celebrate this title and take this picture with the trophy. "I am happy that I have won all my games and scored a lot of goals too." The win over El-Geish saw Ahly reach a record haul of 89 points. Mosimane made an immediate impact after taking over, with Ahly reaching the Champions League final after beating Morocco's Wydad 5-1 on aggregate in a two-legged semifinal. The team also won three matches and drew once under his guidance in the domestic league. "I am happy for the players and the fans and the president too. I hope we can give them all a better celebration with the big trophy," Mosimane added. After the recent changes of the CAF Champions League final date, Ahly will face the winner of Wednesday's semi-final between Zamalek and Morocco's Raja on 27 November. "The only challenge that there is a big space between the semi final and the final," Mosimane added. "I wish we can put the players in an incubator to preserve them until then but we have international players and they will have to play with their teams. I hope they will not return with injuries because we have a lot of injured players already." (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.)
