Wydad bets on their fans in the face of the power of Sundowns in the "African Champions"

Reigning champions Wydad Casablanca of Morocco will be looking to exploit the ground and the public to gain an important advantage over South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns when the two teams meet in the first leg of tomorrow's CAF Champions League semi-finals.

Wydad, the first team to qualify for the semi-finals five times in a row, made a change to its technical management by sacking Spanish coach Juan Carlos Garrido and signing Belgian Sven Vandenbroucke, who was on the bench during the 3-1 moral victory over hosts and neighbors Shabab Mohammedia in the local league last Saturday.
Wydad entered a closed camp last Wednesday at the Mohammed VI compound in Maamoura, Salé, near the capital Rabat, after the departure of assistant coach Abdelilah Saber following a dispute whose details were not disclosed, and then contracted with coach Mohamed Amine Benhachem.

Wydad regained its most prominent players after the absence of the match against Shabab Mohammedia, such as goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Taknaouti, who participated instead of Youssef Mouti, along with captain Yahya Jubran, playmaker Ayman Al-Hassouni, Yahya Attiyatallah and defender Arsene Zola, while the absence of young striker Ismail Matarji from the match was confirmed due to injury. Vandenbroucke admitted that Sundowns are the best among the four semi-final clubs, having previously beaten Egypt's Al Ahly, who hold the record for the number of crowns 5-2 in the group stage this season.

The Belgian coach stressed the difficulty of the task but insisted he would play on the small details, knowing that the two teams know each other well after meeting in the last seven years. All tickets for the match were sold out and to avoid any security or organizational lawlessness, as happened in the quarter-final match between Raja and Egypt's Al Ahly, which saw the death of Raja's encourager, CAF sent delegates to monitor the security situation. The Sundowns mission has been in Morocco since Monday but is staying on the outskirts of the capital Rabat to quietly prepare for a renewed confrontation with Wydad.