Esperance de Tunis will clash with Wydad Casablanca in the second leg of 2018/2019 CAF Champions League final at the Stade de Tunis in Tunisia on Friday.
The defending champions earned a 1-1 draw in the first leg played in the city of Rabat in Morocco last weekend.
Fousseny Coulibaly scored for the Blood and Gold a minute before halftime but his team could not hold and conceded an equalizer from Wydad in the second stanza.
Cheick Camara netted the beautiful goal 11 minutes from time, giving the Moroccan side hope of pocketing $2.5 million prize money.
Esperance come into the match as the better side as they have won their last five competitive matches while their opponents have been struggling in scoring goals in their last three away Champions League games.
The Tunisia giants will be relying on services of midfielder Saad Bguir who has promised that the team is ready to become the first team to defend the Champions League title since Egypt’s Al Ahly in 2013.
“It will be an incredible feeling to win the CAF Champions League two years in a row,” Bguir told the CAF website.
“It would be an honor for me as a player and a great joy especially this year, which marks the club’s centenary of existence.”
“In addition, it would be the ultimate gift to our fans who always had our backs and who, I’m certain, will fill the stadium Friday and make the night memorable.”
Wydad are equally confident of a great performance as their coach Faouzi Benzarti is upbeat that they can bag the Holy Grail of African football, having won it last in 2017.
“I had already said before the (first-leg) match that small details can be decisive,” Benzarti said.
“We have seen the two goals scored from two set pieces, which shows that it was not an easy game. Esperance is a great team. We had to make a huge effort to come back and score in the game.”
“I would like to thank my players for the level they have shown despite having a player sent off.”
Coach Benzarti will make do without key midfielder Brahim Nakach who was sent off in the first leg leaving Walid El Karti, who has scored just two goals in his last 10 appearances, as they key attacker in front.
Spectators and TV viewers will hope for some free-flowing football in the match with the first leg never reaching great heights due to constant fouling by both sides.
Esperance have never lost to Wydad with two wins and five draws from seven previous matches. The Tunisians claimed a 1-0 victory the last time they hosted the Moroccans during the group stage of the 2011 CAF Champions League.
The match will kick-off at 23h00 EAT and the match referee will be Gambian Bakary Gassama.
