CAF Champions League- Al Ahly beat ES Tunis at home to reach record fourth consecutive finals likely to face Sundonws
Egyptian heavyweights Al Ahly reached a fourth successive Caf Champions League final. Percy Tau, on the other hand, is set to play in his third Champions League final.
Tau was instrumental in helping the record holders reach the final, especially in the first-leg where they beat Esperance 3-0 in Tunisia with the South African attacker scoring two goals.
This time around, Tau provided the assist to Hussein El Shahat when the former Mamelodi Sundowns star picked up his teammate with a well-threaded pass from the centre-line. Ahly won 1-0 on Friday night and 4-0 on aggregate as they marched on to their fourth successive final.
Tau’s former side, Sundowns, are in the other semi-final where they face defending champions Wydad Casablanca on Saturday afternoon.
The first-leg was not too ideal for Downs who lost Marcelo Allende and Neo Maema after they received red cards. However, the match ended 0-0 which means that the Premier Soccer League champions need a win to set up an appointment with their continental rivals.
The two sides have met before in the final in 2001 where the Red Devils, who have won the title 10 times, emerged victorious in a two-legged affair. This season will see a return of the two-legged final after the winner was decided in one match for the past three campaigns.
The Pharaohs somehow have Downs goalkeeper Ronwen Williams to thank as both teams were in the same group. Downs qualified as log leaders while the Red Devils were almost eliminated by Florent Ibenge’s Al-Hilal.
To jog your memory, Sundowns were playing Hilal in Sudan and a win for Hilal was going to see them and Sundowns qualify, while Ahly were going to bomb out in the group stages.
Hilal got a penalty, the score was one-all with not much time left on the clock. Athar El Tahir took the responsibility from 12 yards and Williams, who has been in fine form since joining Sundowns, managed to save the day for the Red Devils as he stopped the penalty. Read what you will from that.
Sundowns will look to reach a third Champions League final while Wydad are eager to successfully defend their crown.
