The Albany Gazette - CAF Champions League: Five facts and figures

Second best

Wydad coach Sven Vandenbroeck was on the ball when he said before the first leg of the final that playing at home in the second leg could be an "advantage".

In fact, it has proven to be a big advantage with 15 of the 23 Champions League finals staged over two legs won by the club that had home advantage in the return match.

After three single-match finals from 2020, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) reverted to two-leg title deciders this season.

Record chasers

If Ahly, who lead 2-1 on aggregate after the first leg, are also victorious in the second leg they will become the first champions to win 10 matches in a season.

Ahly (three times), Wydad, Esperance of Tunisia, TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Enyimba of Nigeria have succeeded on the back of nine victories each.

At the other end of the scale, Enyimba and Raja Casablanca of Morocco both lifted the trophy having won just five matches each.

Jose tops

Portuguese coach Manuel Jose holds the record for Champions League triumphs, guiding Ahly to victories in 2001, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

His task was made easier as he handled the 2005-2008 Ahly squad that is widely regarded as the strongest in African club history.

The 'spine' of the team included stars such as goalkeeper Essam el Hadary, centre-back Wael Gomaa, midfielders Mohamed Aboutrika and Mohamed Barakat and forward Emad Moteab.

Wydad mis-four-tunes

Wydad suffered a fourth defeat of the season when they lost the first leg of the final in Cairo, equalling the record for the most losses by a club that lifted the Champions League trophy.

The Moroccan outfit were also beaten four times in 2017 when they won the competition for the second time by overcoming Ahly 2-1 on aggregate.

Enyimba, TP Mazembe and Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa were the other champions who lost four times en route to glory.

History seeker

Former midfielder Vandenbroeck, 43, is hoping to become the first Belgian to coach a CAF Champions League-winning team.

Moroccans Hussein Ammouta and Walid Regragui and Ukrainian Yuriy Sevastyanenko coached Wydad to their three victories in the premier African club competition.

Vandenbroeck was assistant coach of 2017 Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon and has also been in charge of Zambia and clubs in Greece, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.

(F.Schuster--BBZ)