Al-Ahly defeated Moroccan Raja 3-2 in the aggregate of the first leg matches in Cairo and Casablanca in the quarter-finals, while ES Setif achieved a big surprise by defeating Esperance 1-0 in Tunisia after a goalless draw in Algeria.
What does history say?
The CAF Champions League does not place Al-Ahly against ES Setif except in the semi-finals. This happened twice before, the first was in 1988, and each team won in its own stadium (2-0) before the Algerian team decided the final ticket on penalties in its favour.
The third and fourth confrontations between the two teams were also in the semi-finals of the same tournament in 2018, and almost ended with the same results in 1998, but Al-Ahly scored a goal in Algeria, bringing the total of the two matches (3-2) in favor of the Red Giant to pass to the final.
The only confrontation that brought the two teams together in a final, was in 2015 in Algeria, and Al-Ahly tied with ES Setif (1-1) in the African Super Cup, before the penalty kicks smiled again for the owners of the land.
The 2022 African Champions League semi-final matches will bear the numbers 6 and 7 in the history of the Al-Ahly and ES Setif meetings, and the third between them in the semi-final matches of the competition.
about confrontation
Sports critic Omar Qura said in an interview with Sky News Arabia that Al-Ahly is the most likely candidate against any team in the African Champions League after winning the last two editions and reaching the semi-finals in the third edition.
Al-Ahly seeks to be the first club in history to win the title three times in a row, and its South African coach, Pitso Mosimane, also hopes to be the first coach to win the Champions League three times in a row.
Koura added: “ES Setif is certainly dangerous, but Al-Ahly’s confrontation with the Algerian team will be somewhat simpler than the confrontation of Esperance between its fans at the Rades stadium, and everyone knows the nature of the confrontation of the two teams in recent years.”
Koura continued: “Al-Ahly is the closest to winning the African Champions League this season, but first it must deal with the ES Setif challenge with great caution and respect, to achieve a number that is difficult to break later, which is winning the championship 3 times in a row.”
Omar Koura concluded: “It may be that the South African Sundowns team and Moroccan Wydad are only able to prevent Al-Ahly from winning the eleventh title in its history, but what ES Setif presented in Rades against Esperance indicates that it can also achieve a big surprise by excluding Al-Ahly if you smile.” He has football in both matches.
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