The all-time champion of the CAF Champions League, Al Ahly of Egypt, will play their second game of the group stage of the competition against South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns.
Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns have wasted no time in developing an engrossing rivalry, which will be played out in Cairo on Saturday night in the African Champions League group stage.
The two clubs were paired for the second consecutive year in the group stage of the top club competition on the continent, and they enter their match at the Cairo International Stadium in very different states.
Sundowns have won six points from their first two Group B matches, but Al Ahly has been much slower to get going.
Sundowns of South Africa defeated Al Hilal in the first game of the group stage and also won away against Coton Sports, but Al Ahly lost to Al Hilal Omdurman in Sudan when Macabe Lilibo scored from a free kick in the 54th minute at the Blue Jewel Stadium.
Al Ahly has played one match in the group stage due to the cancellation of their opening Group B game at home to Coton Sports of Cameroon, which was postponed while they were competing at the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.
The two clubs will meet in the CAF Champions League for the thirteenth time, with their first meeting taking place on December 18, 2001, and their seventh meeting when Al Ahly is the host team.
The Egyptian giant has a lucrative statistical home record against their South African opponent; the Egyptian club has won five of its home games while the South African club has only won a game away in Cairo on February 22nd, 2022, when Thapelo Morena got a goal in the 85th minute to settle for a 1-0 score line.
The rivalry will be intensified when Bafana Bafana international Percy Tau gains a place in the starting lineup of Swiss tactician Marcel Koller.
Percy Tau gained international recognition and a transfer to the English Premier League as a result of his performances for Mamelodi Sundowns, but when he plays for Al Ahly on Saturday, he will be plotting the destruction of his former team.
