Are Ahly Losing Their Aura Of Invincibility?

Now before all you Al Ahly fans point to the fact that the Red Devils are the reigning champions, both of Egypt and the MTN CAF Champions League, and have one foot in the final of the Champions League after their 2-0 win over the Ivorians in the first leg, remember that Ahly failed to top Group A, where they were beaten to pole position by the upstart Tunisians Club Sportif Sfaxien. 
 

They also lost their incredible unbeaten streak on African soil when Issam Merdassi gave the Tunisians a 1-0 win in Sfax in the group’s opening fixture. Admittedly, Ahly were bound to lose a match at some stage; it’s simply the nature of sport that a team or an individual no matter how good, will eventually be beaten, but one senses that Ahly were beaten as much for underestimating Sfax as anything else.

Yes Ahly avenged the loss with a 2-1 win over Sfax in the return encounter in Cairo, but they were forced to hold on for dear life when the visitors turned up the heat in the last quarter of the match. And that defeat for Sfax was their second of the group (after being hammered 4-2 by Asante Kotoko in Ghana), yet still the Tunisians somehow topped the group ahead of the defending champions.

No doubt Ahly would point to the raft on injuries which has seen several key players miss much of the Champions League campaign. Fair enough, but all teams suffer from injuries and having strength in depth is something one would expect of Africa’s leading club. Look at Orlando Pirates; no less than seven of the 29 players registered for the Champions League have been transferred since the start of the competition and yet, without complaining or laying out excuses, they are still in with a chance of making to the final should they produce something heroic in Tunisia on Saturday evening.

Then there is the tragic death of Mohamed Abdelwahab, something which can most certainly unsettle a team, and one can only have sympathy with the Egyptians if his loss has is any way affected their performance. 
 

Another issue is their reliance on Mohamed Aboutrika. The midfielder has scored half a dozen goals in the tournament putting him, with Hamza Younes (JSK) and Didier Ya Konan (ASEC), atop the scoring charts, but is he a one-man show? Would Ahly cope without their talisman who was similarly heroic for Egypt at the MTN Africa Cup of Nations earlier in the year?

Of course the Red Devils may destroy any such criticism with a blistering performance against ASEC on Sunday night, but Abidjan is an intimidating place to visit and Ahly can expect a massively difficult time against the proud Ivorians who were bitterly disappointed with their performance in Cairo. Only Sunday night will tell…