Sundowns handed tough Al Ahly draw
Jonty Mark
Mamelodi Sundowns will face Egyptian giants Al Ahly for the first time in 12 years next month when the two sides meet in the quarterfinals of the Caf Champions League.
Pitso Mosimane’s Masandawana will be at home for the first leg, scheduled for the weekend of April 5-7, with the second leg taking place in Egypt the following weekend.
This will be the third meeting of the two sides in the Champions League, with Al Ahly winning both of the other two-legged encounters. In 2001, Ted Dumitru’s Sundowns went all the way to the final, and drew the first leg 1-1 in Tshwane, Zambian Gift Kampamba putting the Brazilians in front in that game. That was the only time Sundowns led in the tie, however, as Mohammed Abdehalfi levelled for Al Ahly, and the Cairo giants then won the second leg 3-0, with a hat-trick from Khaled Bibo.
In 2007, Gordon Igesund’s Sundowns faced Al Ahly in the final qualfying round for the group stages, and fought back well from 2-0 down to draw the home leg 2-2, but were beaten 2-0 in Cairo.
Masandawana have been the flag-bearers for South Africa in the Caf Champions League in recent years under Mosimane’s rule, winning the tournament in 2016, when they beat Al Ahly’s great Cairo rivals Zamalek in the final, reaching the quarterfinals the following year, and going out in the group stages in 2018.
Mosimane’s men are back in the last eight this time around, with the tournament running from November to May for the first time. Al Ahly will be favourites to beat the Brazilians, with their continental pedigree the best of the lot, with eight Champions League titles to their name.
The Cairo giants will no doubt also be determined to make up for last year’s final, where they led 3-1 after the first leg against Tunisia’s Esperance, only to lose the second leg 3-0.
Ahly topped Group D in the 2018/19 competition, but were not exactly convincing on the road, picking up just one point from three matches.
In their home-away-fromhome in Alexandria, however, they scored 10 goals in three games without conceding, so Masandawana will almost certainly have to get a decent win in the first leg, if they are to stand a chance of progressing.