Mahmoud Alaa: Zamalek hope to win Champions League this year

Zamalek player Mahmoud Alaa

Sunday Jan 19, 2020. 09:00

Zamalek defender Mahmoud Alaa has revealed that his team has ambitions of winning the CAF Champions League this season.

The Egyptian giants are well-placed in Group A of the premier continental competition, sitting in second spot with seven points – five ahead of Zesco United and Primeiro de Agosto.

A win over DR Congo heavyweights TP Mazembe on the evening of Friday 24 January will see the White Knights both avenge a 3-0 loss to the Ravens in Lubumbashi back in November and secure a place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Alaa says defeating Mazembe to advance is their primary focus for now, but a longer-term view includes the prospect of lifting the trophy at the end of the 2019/20 season.

“We’re doing well in the CAF Champions League and we have a great hope this season to win the tournament,” Alaa told TimeSports TV channel, as quoted by KingFut.

“We want to beat TP Mazembe to reach the knockout stages.

“There’s still a long way to go before the end of the league. We still have a lot of games and our only goal is to win every game, hopefully we can win several trophies in 2020,” he concluded.

Zamalek won last season’s CAF Confederation Cup, but they have not won the Champions League since their fifth continental triumph way back in 2002.