2017 CAF Champions League final

2017 CAF Champions League Final

Mohammed V Stadium hosted the podium where Wydad AC lifted the trophy
Event	2017 CAF Champions League
Al Ahly Wydad AC 1 2
on aggregate
First leg
Al Ahly Wydad AC 1 1
Date	28 October 2017 (2017-10-28)
Venue	Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria
Referee	Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia) [1]
Attendance	60,000
Second leg
Wydad AC Al Ahly 1 0
Date	4 November 2017 (2017-11-04)
Venue	Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca
Referee	Bakary Gassama (Gambia) [2]
Attendance	65,000
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The 2017 CAF Champions League Final was the final of the 2017 CAF Champions League, the 53rd edition of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and the 21st edition under the current CAF Champions League title.

The final was contested in two-legged home-and-away format between Al Ahly of Egypt and Wydad AC of Morocco. ^[3] The first leg was hosted by Al Ahly at the Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria on 28 October 2017, while the second leg was hosted by Wydad AC at the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca on 4 November 2017. The winner earned the right to represent the CAF at the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the quarterfinal stage, as well as play in the 2018 CAF Super Cup against the winner of the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup. ^[4]

After the first leg ended in a 1–1 draw, ^[5] Wydad AC defeated Al Ahly 1–0 in the second leg to win 2–1 on aggregate, and were crowned African champions for the second time. ^[6]

Teams

In the following table, finals until 1996 were in the African Cup of Champions Club era, since 1997 were in the CAF Champions League era.

Team	Zone	Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners)
Al-Ahly	UNAF (North Africa)	10 ( 1982 , 1983, 1987 , 2001 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007, 2008 , 2012 , 2013 )
Wydad AC	UNAF (North Africa)	2 ( 1992 , 2011)

Al-Ahly is the most successful club with 8 titles reaching a total of eleven finals, winning eight (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013) and losing two (1983, 2007).

Wydad AC had reached the final of the African Cup of Champions Clubs twice, winning one in 1992 and losing another in 2011. They were the first Moroccan side to reach the final of Africa's premier club championship since 2011 and also the only Moroccan side to reach this round since 2002 after Raja CA.

Venues

Borg El Arab Stadium

Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria, Egypt, hosted the first leg.

The Borg Elarab stadium is a stadium commissioned in 2006 in the Mediterranean Sea resort of Borg elarab; 25 km west of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the largest stadium in Egypt and the second largest in Africa (after FNB Stadium in Johannesburg) with a capacity of 86,000 ^[7] and is an all-seater. It is also the 27th largest stadium in the world, and the 9th largest association football stadium in the world. It is located on the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway 10 km from Borg Elarab Airport and 15 km from Alexandria's city centre. A running track runs around the pitch, and the ground has four large floodlights. Only one stand is covered by a roof.

The stadium is 145 feddans, is surrounded by a fence which is 3 km long, an internal road network its long is 6 km, a parking lot which could fit 5000 cars and 200 bus beside an airstrip, there are 136 electronic entrances. The main cabin is covered by an umbrella which covers 35% of the stadium total area, and it is considered the biggest umbrella in the Middle East. Its length is 200 m, its dimension is 60 m and its area is 12,000 m², which is equal to 3 feddans.

The stadium is air-conditioned and that condition includes the clothes chambers, the salons and entrances, also the stadium includes 8 elevators for broadcasters, handicapped, services and important persons. There are 2 sub-stadiums for training and each ground can hold 2000 spectators, includes 2 locker rooms and a stadium for Athletics. The stadium also includes a hotel for 200 guests which is air-conditioned and has a swimming pool, gym and a department building which contains 80 people. The stadium includes a building which contains 300 presses. This building includes cabinets for broadcasters, entrances for emergency, ambulance cars, 39 and cafeterias, 337 bathrooms which classified to 33 bathrooms for women and 8 bathrooms for the handicapped.

Stade Mohammed V

Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca,Morocco, hosted the second leg.

The Stade Mohammed V (Arabic : مركب محمد الخامس) is part of a big athletic complex situated in the heart of the city of Casablanca, Morocco, in the western part of Casablanca district. It was inaugurated March 6, 1955, and currently has a capacity of 67,000.

The stadium's record attendance of 100,000 ^[8] was set in 1997, in a football match between Raja CA and their rivals Wydad AC.

Often hosting the games of the Morocco national football team, the Mohammed V Stadium is equally known as the home of Wydad AC and Raja CA. It is named after King Mohammed V of Morocco.

Road to the final

Further information: 2017 CAF Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Al Ahly				Round	Wydad AC
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Qualifying rounds	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Bidvest Wits	1–0	1–0 (H)	0–0 (A)	First round	CF Mounana	1–1 (5–4 p)	1–0 (H)	0–1 (A)
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Zanaco	0–0 (H)			Matchday 1	Coton Sport	2–0 (H)
Coton Sport	2–0 (A)			Matchday 2	Zanaco	0–1 (A)
Wydad AC	2–0 (H)			Matchday 3	Al Ahly	0–2 (A)
Wydad AC	0–2 (A)			Matchday 4	Al Ahly	2–0 (H)
Zanaco	0–0 (A)			Matchday 5	Coton Sport	2–0 (A)
Coton Sport	3–1 (H)			Matchday 6	Zanaco	1–0 (H)
Group D Runner-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 12 2 Al Ahly 6 11 3 Zanaco 6 11 4 Coton Sport 6 0 Source: CAF				Final standings	Group D winner Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Wydad AC 6 12 2 Al Ahly 6 11 3 Zanaco 6 11 4 Coton Sport 6 0 Source: CAF
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout stage	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Espérance de Tunis	4–3	2–2 (H)	2–1 (A)	Quarter-finals	Mamelodi Sundowns	1–1 (3–2 p)	0–1 (A)	1–0 (H)
Étoile du Sahel	7–4	1–2 (A)	6–2 (H)	Semi-finals	USM Alger	3–1	0–0 (A)	3–1 (H)

Format

The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs decided by an additional draw held after the group stage draw, which was held on 26 April 2017. ^[9] If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still tied, extra time would not be played, and the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 26 & 27). ^[4]

Matches

First leg

Amine Atouchi (Wydad AC) missed the first leg after picking up a red card in the second leg of their semi-final against USM Alger.

Zakaria scored for Al Ahly in the third minute after he received a pass outside the penalty area before quickly unleashing a shot with his left foot into the back of the net. Wydad AC then replied with a goal of their own when Ounajem broke through on the right flank and delivered a ball for Bencharki to head in the equaliser. ^[10]

28 October 2017 (2017-10-28)

19:00  UTC+2

Al Ahly	1–1	Wydad AC
Zakaria 3'	Report	Bencharki 16'

Borg El Arab Stadium, Alexandria

Attendance: 60,000

Referee: Bamlak Tessema Weyesa (Ethiopia)

Al Ahly

Wydad AC

GK 1 Sherif Ekramy (c) RB 24 Ahmed Fathy CB 20 Saad Samir CB 23 Mohamed Naguib LB 21 Ali Maâloul CM 17 Amr El Solia CM 3 Ramy Rabia  78' RW 8 Moamen Zakaria AM 19 Abdallah El Said LW 28 Junior Ajayi  63' CF 12 Walid Azaro Substitutes: GK 26 Mohamed El Shenawy DF 7 Hussein El Sayed DF 30 Mohamed Hany MF 11 Walid Soliman  63'  86' MF 16 Ahmed Hamoudi  78' FW 10 Emad Moteab  86' FW 15 Ahmed El Sheikh Manager: Hossam El Badry

GK 22 Zouhair Laaroubi  90+2' RB 28 Abdelatif Noussir CB 13 Youssef Rabeh CB 25 Mohamed Ouattara LB 8 Badr Gaddarine DM 6 Brahim Nekkach (c)  72' RM 7 Mohamed Ounajem  27' CM 18 Walid El Karti CM 4 Salaheddine Saidi  63' LM 11 Ismail Haddad  83' CF 17 Achraf Bencharki Substitutes: GK 12 Badreddine Benachour DF 16 Naïm Aarab DF 27 Zakaria El Hachimi MF 2 Anas El Asbahi MF 9 Mohammed Aoulad MF 26 Abdeladim Khadrouf  27' FW 10 Guillaume Nicaise Daho  83' Manager: Hussein Ammouta

Assistant referees: Olivier Safari Kabene (DR Congo) Waleed Ahmed Ali (Sudan) Fourth official: Sidi Alioum (Cameroon)

Second leg

Both sides were without some key players through injury for the decisive match. Mohamed Ounajem (Wydad AC) strained his thigh during the first leg and Ali Maâloul (Al Ahly) was also out with groin injuries.

In the second leg, El Karti scored for Wydad AC the winning goal with a header in the 69th minute from a precise cross delivered by Bencharki. ^[11]

4 November 2017 (2017-11-04)

20:00  UTC±0

Wydad AC	1–0	Al Ahly
El Karti 69'	Report

Stade Mohammed V, Casablanca

Attendance: 65,000

Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Wydad AC

Al Ahly

GK 22 Zouhair Laaroubi  90+3' RB 28 Abdelatif Noussir CB 13 Youssef Rabeh  40' CB 5 Amine Atouchi LB 8 Badr Gaddarine RM 26 Abdeladim Khadrouf  83'  86' CM 18 Walid El Karti CM 6 Brahim Nekkach (c) CM 4 Salaheddine Saidi LM 11 Ismail Haddad  90+3' CF 17 Achraf Bencharki Substitutes: GK 12 Badreddine Benachour DF 16 Naïm Aarab DF 25 Mohamed Ouattara  90+3' DF 27 Zakaria El Hachimi  86' MF 24 Jamel Aït Ben Idir FW 9 Mohammed Aoulad FW 10 Guillaume Nicaise Daho Manager: Hussein Ammouta

GK 1 Sherif Ekramy (c) RB 30 Mohamed Hany CB 3 Ramy Rabia CB 20 Saad Samir LB 7 Hussein El Sayed  77' CM 17 Amr El Solia  77' CM 24 Ahmed Fathy  39'  72' RW 8 Moamen Zakaria  67' AM 19 Abdallah El Said LW 28 Junior Ajayi  22' CF 12 Walid Azaro  60' Substitutes: GK 26 Mohamed El Shenawy DF 6 Sabri Raheel DF 23 Mohamed Naguib MF 11 Walid Soliman  77' MF 16 Ahmed Hamoudi  85'  60' FW 10 Emad Moteab  72' FW 15 Ahmed El Sheikh Manager: Hossam El Badry

Assistant referees: Jean-Claude Birumushahu (Burundi) Marwa Range (Kenya) Fourth official: Janny Sikazwe (Zambia)

See also

• 2017 CAF Confederation Cup Final
• 2018 CAF Super Cup

References

1. "2017 CAF Champions League Cup – Final (1st leg)". FIFA Referees News. 28 October 2017.
2. "Bakary Gassama to officiate CAF Champions League final return-leg". Kingfut. 24 October 2017.
3. "History Ahly favours against Wydad in epic final". Confédération Africaine de Football. 26 October 2017.
4. "CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE REGULATIONS" (PDF). Confédération Africaine de Football.
5. "Wydad recover from early shock to hold Ahly". Confédération Africaine de Football. 28 October 2017.
6. "Wydad are African champions again after 25 years". Confédération Africaine de Football. 4 November 2017.
7. "The boys are ready", Al-Ahram Weekly , Al-Ahram Publishing House, no. 965, 17–23 September 2009, archived from the original on 10 October 2010, retrieved 6 June 2010
8. "Stade Mohamed V". StadiumDB.com.
9. "Total Champions League 2017: fixtures of the group matches" (PDF). CAF.
10. "Al Ahly, Wydad share spoils in first leg". FIFA. 28 October 2017. Archived from the original on October 29, 2017.
11. "Wydad crowned African champions". FIFA. 4 November 2017. Archived from the original on November 4, 2017.

External links

• Total Champions League 2017, CAFonline.com