Bragging rights will be at stake when reigning champions Al Ahly and Esperance take to the field for the second leg of the CAF Champions League final in Cairo on Saturday.The first leg, played last weekend in Tunisia, ended in a barren draw at the Rades leaving Esperance with a difficult task of turning it in their favour in front of the 75,000 fans in Cairo.Ahly have a decent record of slaying teams at the Cairo Stadium and will hope to maximise the advantage and retain their title.##NAJAVA_MECA_8127237##The hosts, who have won the crown eleven times, however understand that a scoring draw will be enough to hand Esperance their sixth African title.Ahead of the match, Ahly coach Marcel Koller anticipates a tough match and in respect to this, called on his charges to concentrate from onset up to the final whistle.”Ahly and Esperance have equal chances of success. We may have more experienced campaigners, but only what happens on the pitch counts. Concentration will be key. One slip could prove decisive between two evenly matched sides,” The Swiss coach told CAF Online.CAF Champions League final in Cairo sold out in two hoursHis Esperance counterpart Miguel Cardoso, who has rebuilt his managerial reputation in Tunisia after a torrid stint at AEK Athens, is similarly wary of the challenge awaiting his side.”We were unable to capitalise on our chances in the first leg. Hopefully, it’ll be a different story in Cairo. It was disappointing not being able to exploit home advantage, but this final is far from settled,” said the Portuguese coach.History favours Ahly as only two of the previous 10 teams held 0-0 at home in the first leg have gone on to lift the title.Ahly are unbeaten in their last 19 Champions League matches (W12 D7), keeping 16 clean sheets and conceding just three goals.Incredible: Inaki Williams played with a piece of glass in his foot for two years!Espérance on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last five CAF Champions League knockout round matches without conceding (W2 D3); they last kept six consecutive clean sheets in such matches in October 2012.The Tunisian giants will be looking to win the competition for the first time since 2019, when they beat Wydad AC to secure a second consecutive title.Meanwhile, the match day tickets have been sold out ahead of the big clash.
