Egypt’s Al Ahly must overcome the massive pressure placed on them as home favourites in this weekend’s Champions League final first-leg tie, their coach Manuel Jose says.
The Egyptian champions face Cameroon’s Coton Sport in Cairo on Sunday as they attempt to secure a record sixth Champions League title.
« When we play at the Cairo Stadium my players are always under pressure from our supporters, » said the 62-year-old Portuguese coach.
Jose claimed nerves were to blame when Ahly struggled to a 1-0 win over Nigerian visitors Enyimba in the second leg decider of the semi-finals two weeks ago.
« Away from home when Ahly are under no pressure, we perform well, » he said.
« We put on a good display when forcing a goalless draw against Enyimba in Aba despite playing on a terrible pitch.
« We will do our best to win the first leg in Cairo against Coton Sport to make our task of overcoming them easier.
« Ahly have the best footballers in Africa so we should go for a win whenever and wherever we play. »
Coton Sport are the first team in 28 years from Cameroon to make it to the Champions League final, easing through with a 5-0 aggregate win over Zimbabwe’s Dynamos in the semis.
The second leg of the final will take place at the Omnisports Stadium in the northern Cameroonian city of Garoua on 16 November.
Apart from a $1m first prize, the African champions qualify for the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan in December.
