After the round, second leg fixture Jose will be taking over as Angola’s national team coach as they prepare to host the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
Ahly won the first leg of the tie 3-0 in Cairo two weeks ago and since then have clinched a fifth successive league title thanks to a 1-0 play-off win against Ismaili on Sunday.
BBC African Footballer of the Year Mohamed Aboutrika was the first leg hero, opening the scoring and then setting up striker Ossama Hosni for two early second half goals.
Despite the comfortable lead Jose’s assistant coach Hossam el Badry has warned supporters that the outcome in Angola is not a foregone conclusion.
“You cannot take anything for granted in football,” he said.
“Who knows what could happen in the return match so we must be careful.”
Captain Shady Mohamed says fatigue could pose the biggest threat to Ahly as they seek a place in the group stage of the tournament.
“Suffering from fatigue these days is normal as we are not machines,” he explained.
“We have been playing for the last five years and won numerous titles, but we are running out of gas.
“After defeating Ismaili I guess we have silenced all the doubters who were claiming that the Ahly team is nothing more than a bunch of ageing footballers.”
Egypt could have three clubs among the last eight as Haras El Hadood and petroleum company club Enppi go into home fixtures on level terms.
Alexandria-based Haras held Al Ahly Tripoli to a goalless draw in Libya while Cairo side Enppi came from behind twice in Abidjan to force a 2-2 draw with former African champions Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast.
CS Sfaxien of Tunisia, seeking a record third consecutive title, are in trouble after a 2-0 away loss to Angolan military club Primerio Agosto, but captain Abdelkrim Nafti remains upbeat.
“We paid the price for physical fatigue since I believe we have played more than 50 matches this season,” he said.
“However, this is not an excuse and I believe we can overcome the deficit.”
Bayelsa United of Nigeria, Djoliba of Mali and the DR Congo’s Vita Club all have the same task of overcoming a 3-1 loss when they host KCC of Uganda, Algeria’s Entente Setif of Algeria and Coton Sport of Cameroon respectively.
The Vita Club coach Chris O’Loughlin learnt on Thursday that he will be without four players, who are suspended for the game.
Stade Malien, the other Malian contenders, appear well positioned to advance after an Aboubacar Tambadou stoppage-time goal snatched a 1-1 draw at Moroccan club Al Ittihad Khemisset.
