Wydad heed Madrid’s example to overcome Al-Ahly in CAF Champions League final

There were two continental club finals in the space of 48 hours over the end of the last week and the start of this. Real Madrid won the first one, defeating Liverpool 1-0 in Paris on Saturday. Then on Monday, it was time for the African version.

It wasn’t that dissimilar.

Instead of Al-Ahly winning a third CAF African Champions League in a row to make history, Wydad AC won Monday’s final 2-0 to capture their third continental title. Zouhair El-Moutaraji scored a goal in each half to send around 50,000 fans in the Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca into raptures.

If Al-Ahly, who have already won the competition 10 times, have been called “Africa’s Real Madrid” — a team that has a special pedigree in the competition — it was the Moroccans who channeled the aura of the Spanish giants.

“Today, we were Real Madrid, not Liverpool. We learned the lesson from Real Madrid’s win,” said Wydad coach Walid Regragui after the game. The club now equal Raja Casablanca as the most successful Moroccan team in the competition’s history.

In Paris, Liverpool may have had more of the ball but couldn’t make it count. In Casablanca, the Egyptians had plenty of possession but struggled to create clear chances in the face of a disciplined and effective defensive performance from Wydad.

“We let them have the ball, and we knew that they would send balls upfield to Percy Tau, so we focused on controlling him,” Regragui added. “The game was very tough, but we produced a strong performance and deserved to win.”

Many would agree, but Al-Ahly were unhappy about the choice of Wydad’s home stadium as the venue for the final, with CAF making the decision between the first and second legs of the semifinals. Mahmoud Al-Khatib, the president of Al-Ahly,