Al Ahly want fans in their stadium for big Group A match against Sundowns

In a measure of how seriously Al Ahly are taking their Caf Champions League Group A matchup against Mamelodi Sundowns, the club are requesting permission to have supporters in Al Salam Stadium in Cairo on Saturday.

Sundowns have remained in Cairo, where they were held on Saturday to a 0-0 draw by Sudan's Al-Merrikh at Al Salam Stadium, the home ground of Pitso Mosimane's Al Ahly. The Stadium is a venue familiar to South Africans as Bafana Bafana played all their group games there at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

“We are speaking with Caf and the [Egyptian] security authorities to request fan attendance in the Al Ahly and Sundowns match,” Ahly executive director Saad Shalaby told ONTime Sport TV, via Kingfut.com.

The game between Group A's heavyweights is likely to settle the No.1 position, which can make for a relatively easier quarterfinal matchup, depending on how the other groups work out.

So far the Sudanese duo in Group A have proved hard to beat.

Sundowns started with a 1-0 win against Merrikh's Omdurman rivals Al-Hilal in Rustenburg, and will be playing their third match against Ahly.

The Cairo giants’ start in the Champions League was delayed by winning bronze at the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, and they have played one match, drawing 0-0 away against Al-Hilal on Friday.

Mosimane, meanwhile, has Mohamed El Shenawy back from the hamstring injury that kept Ahly's talismanic goalkeeper out of Egypt's penalties 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final defeat to Senegal in Cameroon.

Influential centreback Ayman Ashraf, though, has suffered a minor knee injury and was left out of Mosimane's squad to face 15th-placed Misr Lel Makkasa in the Egyptian Premier League at Al Salam Stadium on Tuesday night.

Percy Tau, who has returned to training, was also not included and it was not clear whether he was being saved to meet old team Sundowns as a secret weapon, or just not quite match fit yet.

Midfielder Akram Tawfik, centreback Mohamed Abdelmoneim and Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul were also absent from the squad.

Ahly (19 points from seven games) can regain the lead from Pyramids (20 from eight) with a win in the league match, and Downs' coaches and analysts are sure to pay close attention to it.