Wydad dumped out of CAF Champions League

Faouzi Benzarti, head coach of Wydad during the CAF Champions League 2023/24 match between Wydad and ASEC Mimosas held at Stade de Marrakech in Marrakech, Morocco on 2 March 2024 ©Nabil Ramdani/BackpagePix

by Thando Mpembe

Sunday Mar 03, 2024. 13:02

Wydad Casablanca’s woes continued after the three-time CAF Champions League winners failed to make it out of the group stages of this season’s competition.

The Moroccan giants, who lost to Al Ahly in the final last term, made a poor start to their Group B campaign when they suffered back-to-back 1-0 defeats against Jwaneng Galaxy and ASEC Mimosas.

However, Faouzi Benzarti’s side kept their hopes alive by beating Simba on matchday 3 and Galaxy on matchday 5 to go level with the Msimbazi Reds on six points ahead of their final group game.

The Red Castle needed to beat Les Mimos and hope that the Tanzanian club slipped up against their opponents from Botswana in order to progress to the knockout stages.

Wydad did their part by winning 1-0 courtesy of Montasser Lahtimi’s 18th-minute goal, but Simba hammered Galaxy 6-0 to secure second place in the group due to a better head-to-head record.

Benzarti will be feeling the pressure again after he initially resigned as head coach last month following a poor run of results in the Botola Pro before going back on his decision.