Al Ahly aim for historic turnaround in Alexandria

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Apr 11, 2019. 17:00

Eight-time Caf Champions League winners Al Ahly will be out to record arguably the best second-leg turnaround in the history of the competition when they play host to Mamelodi Sundowns at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria on Saturday.

Kick-off is at 18h00 CAT.

The Egyptian giants lost 5-0 to the 2016 champions in the first-leg quarterfinal clash in Atteridgeville last week, and will need nothing but a miracle if they are to book their place in the final four as the expense of the South African champions.

Themba Zwane, Wayne Arendse, Ricardo Nascimento, Gaston Sirino and Phakamani Mahlambi all found the back of the net for Sundowns at the Lucas Moripe Stadium, in what was a humiliating defeat for the Red Devils.

“We have certainly played a bad game, and we need to work in the upcoming period,” Al Ahly head coach Martin Lasarte said after the match in South Africa.

“I would like to send a message to the Al Ahly fans who attended the game in South Africa, as well as the ones who watched the game on TV. We are sorry.

“We are embarrassed and apologise to you. There is nothing else to be said. We will talk less and work more from now on,” he concluded.

Despite their advantage, Mamelodi Sundowns defender Wayne Arendse has emphasised that the Brazilians will not be resting on their laurels in the Egyptian port city.

“I’m not saying we should foolishly go all out attack in the second leg but the 5-0 scoreline does not mean we must go there to defend. We should still play our normal game and play positive football," Arendse told his club's official website.

“It’s going to be tough but very interesting because I feel we could have scored more goals at home had we buried all our chances. What’s more important though is the fact that we created these chances and I believe we can still create more in Egypt because it’s still crucial for us to score at least one goal away."

The aggregate winner will face either Wydad Casablanca (Morocco) or Horoya AC (Guinea) for a place in this year's final.