Egypt's Ahly wary ahead of Morocco clash despite home win

Ahly manager Mohamed Youssef was content with Sunday's home win against Morocco’s Difaa Jadida in the first-leg of the African Confederation Cup round of 16.

"The 1-0 win is good enough, especially as we kept our net clean. We must focus more in the second leg to be able to make it to the group stage," the 43-year-old tactician told the Cairo-based official club website after the game.

"The Morocco round won't be easy with the support of the opponents' fans. We must be really careful and make the best use of our experiences, especially with Hossam Ashour, Mohamed Naguib and Amr Gamal fit for the clash," he added.

The Red Devils' football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz echoed the coach's words, considering the 1-0 win "tricky".

"We missed many important key players in Difaa Jadida match and their return for the difficult away game will, surely, boost the team," said Abdel-Hafiz, who is flying to Morocco Tuesday morning to finalise the team's accommodation details in the North African country ahead of the anticipated Saturday.

In the other camp, Difaa coach Abdelhak Ben Chikha expressed relief over the "narrow defeat".

"Ahly could have scored more if they weren't missing many of their players. There is another round for the game in Morocco and we are capable of surpassing the defeat," the 50-year-old Algerian manager said after the game.

The Egyptian Champions who hold a record of eight Africa Champions League trophies are bidding to become the first Egyptian side to win the continent’s secondary club competition.

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