2023-05-01 16:40:00
Mixed fortunes for Wydad and Raja in the Champions League. The Reds will be able to continue the adventure after reaching the quarter-finals on Friday at home at the expense of the Tanzanian team of Simba after resorting to penalties (1-0, 4-3), while the Greens have saw their career stopped short, Saturday in front of their public at the Mohammed V Sports Complex in Casablanca, by the Egyptian club Al Ahly (0-0).
The WAC is entitled to boast of its perfect operation, even if the qualification was torn off in pain. Wydad had to raise the handicap of the goal of the first leg, which they were able to do following an achievement by Bouly Junior in the 25thth minute. As for the rest of the debates, the defending champions, even pushed by their supporters, had shown themselves unable to make a difference, since the real opportunities were counted at their fingertips.
Fortunately, during the penalty shootout, the Wydadis players were more diligent than their opposite counterparts who saw two of their shots intercepted by the excellent Youssef Moutii, who was well on his way to winning his starting stripes.
At the end of this confrontation sanctioned by an eighth presence in a row of the WAC in the last four of the C1, a record, the coach of the club, the Spaniard Juan Carlos Garrido, all the same criticized for his tactical options, made knowing that “the important thing is qualification despite the fact that the team played badly and that should be remedied as soon as possible”.
In the round of the semi-finals, the WAC will host the South Africans of Mamelodi Sundowns on May 12, winners in the first leg (4-1) and in the return (2-1) of the Algerians of Chabab Belouizdad.
As mentioned above, if the continental campaign continues for Wydad which maintains the legitimate hope of defending its title, this is not the case for Raja, released by the National of Cairo, following its draw, knowing that at the first leg, he lost on the score of two to zero.
The Greens showed their limits once facing a serious opponent because during the group stage, they had to do battle with teams that are not cataloged among the big cars of the continent.
Against Al Ahly, Raja did not lack desire but above all they lacked solutions to unblock the situation. The Cairenes, without needing to spend too much, were able to manage the ups and downs of the meeting, marked by a missed penalty by Rajaoui Yousri Bouzok.
Like the previous edition and still facing the same Ahly, Raja left the C1 in the quarter-finals, the second table missed after the local championship. What is done to further stir up the climate of tension and the immediate exit of club president Aziz El Badraoui to deny the news of his resignation should not hide the fact that things are going badly at home.
If the first semi-final promises to be “show”, it will be the same for the second which will have as protagonists regulars of the meeting: Al Ahly and Espérance de Tunis which eliminated the other representative of Algerian football , the Youth of Kabylia (1-1 on the return and 1-0 on the way).
Mohamed Bouarab
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