Final, First legSundayAl Ahly vs Esparance 19:00 SS9ALEXANDRIA - Six-time champions Al Ahly will count on home comforts and the return of the legendary Mohamed Aboutrika to beat champions Esperance on Sunday in a first leg final of the CAF Champions League.In 10 Champions League clashes between 1990 and 2011, Esperance have won three, Ahly have been victorious twice, while the five other games have been drawn.The biggest win of these head-to-head match-ups was achieved in 2007 by hosts Ahly, when they thumped the top Tunisian club 3-0 courtesy of goals from Aboutrika, Flavio Amado and Osama Hosni.However, Sunday’s showdown will not be played at the famous Cairo Stadium, but instead at the Army Stadium in Alexandria, which is about 219 kilometres from the capital city.The big plus though is that the authorities have agreed for the fans to return to the stands after Ahly played all their matches behind closed doors since the tragic stadium trouble in Port Said in February.Ahly will boost their chances of a seventh continental title if they win well in front of their fans before the return leg in Tunis, where Esperance have been invincible.The Cairo Red Devils will also be boosted by the return of Aboutrika after a club suspension was lifted.“Aboutrika will return to the team in the final. His ban is over and he will be with us,” Ahly coach Hossam Al-Badri disclosed.Esperance, on the other hand, will be without influential forward Youssef Mskani, who has had to undergo an appendicitis operation and could now only be fit for the return leg in Tunis in a fortnight.The exciting Tunisia international will join a Qatari club in January for a staggering $15 million.
