WAC, on cloud nine after its consecration as champion of the first leg of the Botola Pro D1 Inwi, will have the difficult task of bringing back a positive result from the lair of Mouloudia Alger, which is still chasing a second title in this prestigious competition after the one won in…1976.
Certainly, Moroccan-Algerian confrontations have always been marked by great intensity and rivalry like any Maghreb derby, but the men of the experienced Tunisian technician Faouzi El Benzarti have all the means to overcome this Algerian pitfall and secure their ticket to the final four.
The two clubs had already met in 2011, in the group stage of the same competition. In the first leg, played at the Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca, Wydad, the future unfortunate finalist of the competition, had largely beaten Mouloudia 4-0, before losing 3-1 in the return match.
In anticipation of this meeting, which will be officiated by the Ethiopian Bamlak Tessema Weyesa, the WAC, already qualified for the semi-finals of the Throne Cup where it will face the Moghreb of Tetouan, arrived Wednesday in Algiers on board a special flight.
In statements to the press, WAC President Said Naciri assured that “in this stage of the competition, all teams are on an equal footing.”
“The draw was balanced. Through our last six consecutive participations in the Champions League, we have learned that there is no team with an advantage over the others. All the qualified teams are strong and deserve their place in the quarter-finals,” he warned.
“We are focusing on ourselves and not on our opponents in order to go as far as possible in this competition,” he added.
For his part, MCA coach Nabil Neghiz said that “it is true that WAC is one of the favorites to win the Champions League, but we will do everything to honor national football and MCA, whether in Algiers or Casablanca. We must also know that if we want to go far in this competition, we must raise our level. We promise that we will do everything to achieve a good result.”
Before reaching this stage of the competition, the Red and Whites had dominated their group C with 13 points, ahead of the South African team Kaizer Chiefs, while Mouloudia Alger, who have not reached the quarter-finals since 1976, finished second in group D (9 points), behind Espérance Tunis.
In case of qualification for the semi-finals, Wydad Casablanca, who have won this competition twice, in 1992 and 2017, will face the winner of the double confrontation between the South Africans of Kaizer Chiefs and the Tanzanians of Simba FC. The other Maghreb derby of these quarter-finals of the Champions League, will pit the Algerians of CR Belouizdad against the Tunisians of Espérance Tunis.
In the CAF Cup, which has seen a clear domination of Moroccan clubs in recent years, the only Moroccan team still in the running, Raja Casablanca, will be on a commando mission in South Africa, where it will cross swords with Orlando Pirates.
Raja, the 2018 Confederation Cup winners and three-time African champions (1989, 1997, 1999), last met Orlando Pirates more than two decades ago in the 1997 edition of the continent’s premier club competition, the CAF Champions League.
In order to win this bet, the men of Tunisian coach Lassaad Chabbi must keep the same spirit and the same rage to win that they demonstrated in the group stage, by making a flawless record of 6 wins in as many matches. For its part, Orlando Pirates finished 2nd in Group A behind the Nigerian club Enyimba.
“We will face one of the biggest clubs in Africa, Raja… Last season they reached the semi-final of the Champions League and a year before they won the Confederation Cup… It’s a big match that will be difficult for us, but in football everything is possible. … We are also a great team… and we will fight until the end,” said Josef Zinnbauer, the coach of the South African team, winner of the CAF Champions League in 1995 and runner-up of the Confederation Cup in 2015.
2024-09-22 18:23:31