Kaizer Chiefs vs Al Ahly Preview: Kick-off time, TV channel, squad news

Kaizer Chiefs and Al Ahly cross swords at Casablanca’s Stade Mohamed V Stadium in a bid for the African championship on Saturday.

It is a clash between teams with contrasting records on the continent.

For Al Ahly, they have won the Champions League on nine occasions before and are chasing history to be crowned champions for a record-extending 10th title.

They come up against Amakhosi who will be making a maiden appearance in the Champions League final in a season they participated in the group stage for the first time ever.

Interestingly, Al Ahly are under the tutelage of former Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane who has three South Africans in his backroom staff.

Mosimane led the Cairo giants to a ninth Champions League title last season which was his first term at the club.

TV Channel, Live Score & How To Watch

Squads & Team News

Chiefs have confirmed they have all their players available for Saturday’s final.

That means the return of star player Khama Billiat who has been injured since April and missed the quarter-final and semi-final games.

His last Champions League game was Chiefs’ final group fixture away at Horoya when his goal secured Amakhosi a 2-2 draw which sent them to the last-eight.

Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter could have a selection headache in choosing the goalkeeper who will start between Itumeleng Khune, Bruce Bvuma and Daniel Akpeyi.

The Cairo giants know Baxter very well after the Englishman orchestrated Bafana Bafana’s 1-0 victory over Egypt at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, a Round of 16 result which knocked the Pharaohs out of the tournament they were hosting.

Al Ahly coach Mosimane traveled to Morocco with all his players including the injured trio of Walid Soliman, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Karim Nedved.

If the players pass late fitness tests, they could be surprisingly thrown into the fray.

Veteran midfielder Soliman, however, has seen limited game time in the Champions League this season with four appearances.

Match Preview

A journey that started with a 1-0 away win over Cameroonian champions PWD Bamenda in the preliminary round of this tournament will end in Casablanca for Chiefs.

Amakhosi will be playing their 15th Champions League game of the season on the backdrop of six wins, as many draws and two defeats. They have not conceded at home.

They are back at Stade Mohamed V, a stadium that offers good memories after they beat Wydad Casablanca 1-0 in the first leg of the semi-finals on June 19.

Defending champions Al Ahly go into Saturday’s encounter with a season record of eight Champions League wins, three draws and one defeat which came away at Simba SC in the group stage.

It will be the third time for Al Ahly to meet South African opponents this season after they knocked out Mamelodi Sundowns at the quarter-final stage.3-1 on aggregate. 

Mosimane and Baxter will resume their rivalry after previous clashes in the Premier Soccer League.

The ex-Sundowns tactician has a better record against the Englishman, having prevailed five times, shared spoils twice and lost three times.

Chiefs could have felt inspired after conducting training sessions at Caf Confederation Cup champions Raja Casablanca’s Oasis Training Centre.

Having last been involved in a competitive match on June 26 when they drew 0-0 against Wydad at home, Chiefs will be hoping they will not face fitness issues against Al Ahly who have played four Egyptian Premier League matches in July alone and avoiding defeat in all of them.

They go into Saturday’s game on a high after winning their last three games in which they scored 10 goals and conceded just once.

Kaizer Chiefs arrived in Casablanca knowing that South African teams have previously failed to beat Al Ahly in the Champions League final.

The Red Devils beat Sundowns 4-1 on aggregate in the 2001 final, before overcoming Orlando Pirates 3-1 on aggregate in 2013.

Chiefs and Al Ahly have played against each other just once before when they clashed in the 2002 Caf Super Cup with the Cairo giants winning 4-1 in Alexandria.

Current Amakhosi assistant coach Arthur Zwane lasted 90 minutes in that game playing as a left-sided midfielder.