Al Ahly of Cairo will face Ahly Benghazi in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Friday.
Match info: Date and time: 21 Mar 2014 – 15:00 (CLT)
The African champions are not expected to be taking the game lightly due to some unpleasant memories with Benghazi’s El-Ashry, who emphatically beat the Reds 2-0 to guide Hodoud to the Egyptian Super Cup title back in 2009.
Despite playing 10 games against Libyan sides, this is the first time Ahly take on four-time league champions Ahly Benghazi – currently second in their league’s Group B.
Ahly do boast a fine record against Libyan teams, however, winning seven and losing twice – the last of which came against Ittihad Tripoli in the Champions League last-16 first leg in 2010, before the Egyptians eventually overturned their two-goal deficit to advance to the group stage.
The biggest win for Ahly over a Libyan outfit came in the Champions League in 1977, when they claimed a thumping 7-3 aggregate victory following a 7-2 first leg success.
Friday’s match could well see another Egyptian playing against Ahly – former Zamalek midfielder Ahmed Eid Abdel-Malek, who joined the Libyan club on loan this season.
Ahly enter the game with no injury concerns after retrieving the services of Egyptian forward Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy and Ramy Rabia – who both missed the Dakhleya defeat through injuries.
Coach Youssef, however, will have to do without striker Emad Meteb, who will be out for another two months due to a niggling hamstring problem.
Meanwhile, coach El-Ashry has announced that his squad have no injuries ahead of the Ahly clash.
