Egyptian football giants Al Ahly and Zamalek have been drawn in the same African Champions League group, which pundits are referring to as the “group of death.”
The group format kicks on in July and the Egyptian clubs will play one another at least twice, according to the draw made in Yaounde, Cameroon, Saturday.
Egyptians are quite happy at the prospect of their two leading clubs facing off in African’s most prestigious club competition.
“I am really excited to see them play each other,” young Egyptian fan Ghada said.
Seemingly unconcerned that continental competitions rarely pit two teams from the same country in the same group, Ghada said: “It doesn’t matter to me because we like to see Ahly and Zamalek play.”
“It doesn’t matter if both teams don’t get through, we know we are the best in Africa,” she said, referring to Egypt’s back-to-back African Cup of Nations championships.
The two Egyptian clubs are drawn in Group A along with Cote d’Ivoire’s Ivory ASEC Abidjan and Zimbabwe’s Dynamos.
The Harare-based Dynamos defeated Champion’s League title holders Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in the third round last week.
The top two finishers in the two groups will advance to play in October’s semi-finals.
The final is a two-leg final played at the end of October and early November.
Below is the full group fixture:
Group A: Al Ahly (Egypt), ASEC Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), Dynamos (Zimbabwe) and Zamalek (Egypt)
Group B: Al Hilal (Sudan), Coton Sport (Cameroon), Enyimba (Nigeria) and TP Mazembe Englebert (DR Congo)
