Egypt's Ahly are set to host Moroccan giants Raja at Cairo International Stadium tonight in the first leg of the quarterfinals, renewing the rivalry between these African powerhouses.
The Red Devils have shown their superiority over their rivals in recent years, knocking them out of last season's quarterfinals (3-2 aggregate win) and beating them to the 2022 African Super Cup title 7-6 on penalties.
But in 2023, Raja seem to have shifted up a gear. The Moroccan giants were the best performers during the group stage, collecting 16 points out of 18 and scoring 17 goals, the best attack in that phase, to easily top their group.
Ahly now seem on track after an early struggle, having to wait until their last game to secure qualification with a 3-0 win over Al-Hilal of Sudan.
"My aim is to have most of my players ready because we are facing a congestion of fixtures, and we had to constantly change our lineup to have the players fresh and performing. We won our league games, though some were not as good as we wanted, but that's understandable as it comes just before an important game. Now we have to focus on the Raja game," Ahly coach Marcel Koller said after the Smouha game on Monday.
The Swiss tactician had to rotate his squad as the team played five games in 17 days.
His strategy paid off, and now he can rely on flamboyant forward Mahmoud "Kahraba" Abdel-Moneim, influential winger Hussein El Shahat, back-to-scoring form striker Mohamed Sherif, and South Africa's pacy forward Percy Tau.
Ahly will also be counting on more than 52,000 fans, which have been allowed for this game, to push them to victory.
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