Kaizer Chiefs will look to seal a place in the final of the 2020/2021 CAF Champions League when they face Wydad Casablanca at FNB Stadium on Saturday, 26 June, kick-off at 18h00 CAT.
The South African giants come into the return game of the semifinal tie with a 1-0 lead, having outclassed their Moroccan opponents in the first leg at Mohamed V Stadium on June 19. Serbian attacker Samir Nurkovic scored the lone goal for the Amakhosi.
Wydad will hope that they can stage a comeback in the semifinal tie and advance into the final for the first time since winning the continental competition in 2017, while Chiefs are looking for their first appearance in the final and write a chapter in club’s history.
The Red Castle coach Faouzi Benzarti says he remains confident in his players’ ability to come back into contention during their away game on Saturday night.
“We lost with one goal, we still have another match to play in South Africa, the VAR wasn’t used in favour of Wydad like during the previous matches,” said Benzarti.
“We’ll try to overturn this result in South Africa, I can’t fault the players, they gave one hundred percent. They were present mentally and physically but this is football.”
Chiefs win against Wydad was masterminded by the assistant coaches Arthur Zwane and Dillon Sheppard and they will be in-charge of the second-leg match on Saturday. This is because the new head coach Stuart Baxter he is still awaiting his South African work permit.
Zwane, meanwhile is not taking nothing for granted; “We are playing against one of the best teams on the continent, we’ve learnt quite a few things from them. At the same time we also surprised them and showed them a thing or two and showed that we are good enough to compete at this level,” says Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane.
“Getting a goal away was very important for us. Coming to South Africa they will be a different team in terms of approach, because they will be chasing the game. But our players have been awesome this week, very committed and focused, and also showing lots of discipline,” added Zwane.
The Amakhosi hold an advantage as Wydad have been having a tight schedule as they faced RS Berkane in a domestic league match on Tuesday night.
It was ninth game for the Red Castles this month a punishing run of games that coach football analyst have warned will take its toll on the Moroccan side.
Chiefs hosted Wydad at FNB Stadium earlier in the campaign in the group stages, a game the Glamour Boys won 1-0, and they know they are in for a titanic battle this weekend.
The winner on aggregate between Chiefs and Wydad will take on either Egyptian football powerhouse Al Ahly or Tunisian champions Esperance de Tunis in the final.
Al Ahly, who are under the guidance of former Mamelodi Sundowns head coach, will carry a 1-0 lead into the second-leg clash against Esperance in Cairo on Saturday.
