Al-Ahly seeks to complete its mission against ES Setif in Algeria

Egyptian champions Al-Ahly will seek to complete their mission against ES Setif and qualify for the final match of the African Champions League when they play in Algeria in the second leg of Saturday’s final.

Al-Ahly, the champion of the last two editions of the continental championship and holder of the record for winning the title ten times, took a big step towards the final by winning 4-0 in the first leg in Cairo last Saturday.

Syed Abdel Hafeez, Al-Ahly’s director of football, said that his team is ready for the match after turning the page on the first leg and focusing entirely on qualifying for the final for the third year in a row.

Abdel Hafeez added to the club’s website on Friday: We will play tomorrow’s match as if it were the first match, and we will not pay attention to winning a quartet in going to Cairo because football has many lessons, and if we do not commit and focus on Saturday, there will be bad consequences.

“We are in the semi-finals of a big tournament, so we have to be very focused on every match from start to finish.”

He explained: It is important that we play this match with complete ranks until the end by not having any of the players expelled, and this requires everyone to focus intensely with physical and mental preparation, and to stay away from any tension throughout the match.

This match comes amid a crisis between Al-Ahly and the Egyptian Federation on the one hand, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on the other hand, due to the stadium of the final match.

The crisis began when “CAF” announced the establishment of the final in Morocco, after two semi-final first leg matches, which angered Al-Ahly due to the violation of the principle of equal opportunities and bias towards Wydad.

Al-Ahly asked the Egyptian Federation to escalate the case to the International Federation (FIFA).

The Egyptian Federation responded in a statement by announcing the request to host the final, which was rejected by CAF and insisted that the final be held in Morocco, despite the fact that Wydad Casablanca was close to qualifying for the final match after its 3-1 victory over Petro Atletico of Angola in Luanda in the first leg.

Expectations indicate a confrontation between Al-Ahly and Wydad in the final of the competition on May 30th, after two big victories in the first leg of the semi-finals.