Cairo giants Al Ahly have reached the 2023 CAF Champions League final after beating Tunisian outfit Espérance Sportive de Tunis 4-0 on aggregate.
This marks Al Ahly’s fourth consecutive CAF Champions League final, having reached the final in the previous three editions, winning two of them.
This also means Al Ahly matched their record under Portuguese manager Manuel Jose, when they achieved the same feat between 2005 to 2008.
Moreover, the club has now also reached the final for the sixth time in the last seven years, missing out only on the 2019 final.
Having won the first-leg comfortably in Rades 3-0, Al Ahly opted against resting their key players and made just one change to their starting XI as Ali Lotfi replaced injured Mohamed El-Shennawy.
Al Ahly controlled the game from the get-go and hit the post inside the opening five minutes through Mahmoud Kahraba with a first-touch volley.
Their domination paid off as Percy Tau put Hussein El-Shahat with a brilliant through ball, before the latter nudged the ball past the goalkeeper to give Al Ahly the lead in the 22nd minute.
Espérance didn’t cause Al Ahly any troubles defensively and the Reds maintained the ball for the majority of the game and could have scored more through Kahraba and Abdelkader.
Eventually the game finished in a 1-0 win for the Reds to make it 4-0 on aggregate to seal a spot in the 2023 CAF Champions League final.
The ten-time African champions will now look for their 11th title in their 16th final apperance against either Wydad Casablanca or Mamelodi Sundowns.
The first-leg between the two teams ended in a 0-0 draw in Morocco and the return-leg will take place in South Africa on May 20.
