Although African Champions League title holders Ahli vowed to avenge their crushing 3-0 loss to Orlando Pirates of South Africa suffered in Egypt in the first leg of the group stage, they could only draw 0-0 against Pirates in Soweto in South Africa on Sunday. Still, the one point was good enough to allow Ahli to finish in first place, topping Group A with 11 points followed by Pirates in second place with eight points. Ahli's midfielder Ahmed Shedid Qenawi admitted that the players took it easy as they felt their team was already in the semis. “We wanted to top the table because that would mean a home second leg in the semi-finals and this is what we achieved.” Midfielder Abdullah Al-Said added, “We were desperate to avenge what Pirates did to us in El-Gouna and our plan was to attack whenever feasible.” Ahli's Mohamed Youssef was satisfied with the result. “My players did their best, were playing enthusiastically and finished top of Group A avoiding confronting Tunisia's Esperance in the semi-final round.” Ahli will instead be meeting Coton Sport of Cameroon who came in second place in Group B while Orlando Pirates will face Esperance of Tunisia which finished first in Group B. Youssef added that Coton Sport won't be an easy prey for Ahli. “It is a strong well organised team and we have to concentrate well as we don't want to lose any chances for qualifying to the final. Coton have lost just once this season in 11 qualifiers and group games.” Esperance signed off the group phase of the Orange CAF Champions League with a 2-1 win over Coton Sport in Garoua on Saturday. The two-time champions made it five wins out of six at the mini-league stage and finish tops in Group B. Esperance finished on 15 points, Coton Sport on eight points with Sewe Sport and Recreativo in that order with five points apiece. Zamalek played a great match on Sunday beating AC Leopards of the Congo 4-1 in their final match in Group A. The match was meaningless to Zamalek who failed to qualify for the semi-final round after losing to arch-rivals Ahli last week. But against Leopards who also missed out on a semi-final appearance, Zamalek players were superstars, attacking from the first minute in the Red Sea resort of El-Gouna as they sought to prove to their fans they are worthy of their support even while finishing at the bottom of the group with seven points. Goals for Zamalek were scored by Mohamed Ibrahim, Mahmoud Shikabala and Ahmed Gaafar who netted a brace while Leopards sole goal came through Guelord Bebey Ndey.
