In front of their respective audiences, Wydad and Raja managed, at the Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca, to complete the group stage of the Champions League on good notes with convincing performances for the rest of the course.
Saturday, the Reds, defending champions, did not go into too much detail by hosting the Algerian team of the Jeunes Sportive de Kabylie, a match counting for the 6th round of group A. They won with a wide score of 3 at 0, a victory that allowed them to overtake their opponent of the day and take control of the pool with 13 units, or three lengths ahead of JSK.
Already assured of their qualification for the quarter-final round, the Casablancais only had eyes for this first place and they did it in the best possible way, unlocking the situation from the half hour mark. intervention of the Senegalese striker Junior Sambou in a great day. The latter managed, moreover, to double the lead in the 51st minute before the ghost Zouheir Mutarraji, who entered during the game, sealed the fate of this North African derby as the end of time approached (87th) regulatory.
At the end of this meeting, the WAC coach, the Spaniard Juan Carlos Garrido, said he was happy with the result and the performance of his protégés, adding that “we must learn the necessary lessons in order to improve more in the next rounds”.
If for the WAC-JSK match, the challenge was to win first place, the opposition Raja-Simba of Tanzania (3-1), also counting for the last act of group C, was of the order of the formal , because the Greens ran no risk of losing their chair of leader, against an opponent assured of his second place.
The Greens had to wait for the last breaths of the first period (44th) to find the fault thanks to an achievement by Hamza Khaba, author of a double in the 70th, before Mohamed Boulaksout scored the 3rd goal in the 86th, knowing that the only achievement of the opposing team was signed Jean Othos in the 48th.
For Raja coach Moundir Kbiyer, “Simba was a tough opponent, except that my players were able to react in time, especially after the equalizing goal”.
In short, in addition to the teams of groups A and C qualified for the quarterfinals, were able to mark their way for the next stage of the competition, the South African clubs of Mamelodi Sundowns (1st GP: B) and Egyptian Al Ahly (2nd GP : B), as well as Espérance de Tunis (1st GP: D) and Chabab Belouizdad from Algeria (2nd GP: D).
Remember that the draw for the quarter-final round of the Champions League and the Confederation Cup is scheduled for the current 5 at 6:30 p.m. at CAF headquarters in Cairo.
Mohamed Bouarab