Only a miraculous comeback will prevent Wydad Casablanca booking their place in the CAF Champions League final when they take on Petro du Luanda on Friday night. The return leg semifinal clash is set for the Mohamed V Stadium in Rabat.
Kick-off is at 19h00 GMT.
The first leg in Luanda last weekend was a veritable rout, with the Moroccan side claiming a 3-1 win thanks to strikes from Jerbane, Guy Mbenza and Tiago Azulao’s own goal.
The Red and White will now be looking to finish the job in front of their home crowd, in their bid to claim their third African title.
“We knew that Petro de Luanda likes to play tiki taka [short passing] and we had a strategy of letting them play and going over their mistakes,” Wydad Casablanca coach Regragui said after the first leg match.
“And, quite simply, that strategy worked very well for my team. We expected to win, but I must say that Petro are a very strong team and we didn’t expect to win by 3-1.”
Petro may need a miracle to come back in the tie, but their club coach Alexandre Santos has not completely given up hope.
Petro are not prepared to take their foot off the pedal, with manager Alexandre Santos insisting that the tie is not finished yet.
“(The first leg) result complicates our aspirations to reach the final,” he was quoted as saying by O Jogo.
“We are at a big disadvantage for the second leg and I know it will be very difficult, because we know which team we will face in front of their audience.”
Both sides have met seven times before and were also in the same group during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons, when Wydad won four of their six encounters, the other ending in a draw.
The winner on aggregate between Petro du Luanda and Wydad Casablanca will face off with either Algeria side ES Setif or Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the final.
