Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club are seeking to win their fourth TotalEnergies CAF Champions League title and topple Egyptian rivals Al Ahly for the second consecutive time having beaten them in last season’s final.
Wydad is looking to add to its trophy cabinet, having won the title in 1992, 2017 as well as last season. The two sides meet in the first leg in Cairo this Saturday, before facing off in the return fixture in Casablanca, Wydad’s venue of last year’s conquest, a week from then.
The Moroccans are facing Ahly in the final for the third time and in the previous two, they have emerged as champions. When they met in 2017 in a two-legged final, they drew 1-1 in Cairo and won 1-0 in Casablanca. They hope to be third-time lucky this season as well.
Wydad started their campaign this season on a wrong footing losing 2-1 away to Nigeria’s Rivers United, but they bounced back in a resounding manner, winning the return leg 6-0 in Casablanca to storm into the group stages.
They were drawn in Group A where they faced off with JS Kabylie of Algeria, Angola’s Petro de Luanda and DR Congo’s AS Vita Club.
They finished top of the group with 13 points off four wins, a draw and a loss. They beat Petro de Luanda home and away, winning 1-0 in Casablanca and 2-0 in Luanda. They also won at home against AS Vita Club (1-0) and JS Kabylie (3-0).
Kabylie was the only side to hand them defeat, having beaten them 1-0 in Algiers. They also drew away to Vita (0-0).
In the quarter-finals, Wydad were made to work by Tanzanian giants Simba SC, before beating them 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw. They lost 1-0 in Dar es Salaam before winning by the same margin at home in Casablanca.
They also had to work their socks off in the semis, as they edged out South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns on the away goal rule. They played to a 0-0 draw at home in Morocco, before fighting for a 2-2 stalemate in Pretoria to sneak through to the final.
Wydad’s path to the final
Second preliminary round:
Rivers United 2-1 Wydad, Wydad 6-0 Rivers United
Group stage:
Wydad 1-0 AS Vita Club, JS Kabylie 1-0 Wydad, Wydad 1-0 Petro Atletico, Petro Atletico 0-2 Wydad, AS Vita Club 0-0 Wydad, Wydad 3-0 JS Kabylie,
Quarter-final:
Simba 1-0 Wydad, Wydad 1-0 Simba Tanzanian (Wydad won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate tie).
Semi-final:
Wydad 0-0 Mamelodi Sundowns, Mamelodi Sundowns 2-2 Wydad. (Wydad qualified on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate tie).