Mohamed Youssef, the assistant coach of Egypt’s Ahly, said that the team is not worried about playing on an artificial-grass pitch when they face off against ES Setif of Algeria in the CAF Champions League semis second leg on Tuesday.

“Ahly have a very long history and we are able to get over such circumstances,” Youssef told the Ahly Media Centre on Monday.

“The team is ready for the game against ES Setif. All the player are fully focused and determined to reach the final,” Youssef added.

The 48-year coach said that the team trained yesterday at 8 May Stadium, which will host the game, and that they will also have a training session today on the same pitch for the players to get used to its artificial surface.

Youssef also mentioned that team had a long flight followed by an internal bus trip that lasted for four hours to reach Setif City.

“Our players have experience on how to get over challenges like fatigue and travelling for long distances,” Youssef was quoted as saying.

Ahly will have the advantage of a relatively comforting 2-0 first leg victory when they meet the Algerian side in Setif, whereas ES Setif will need to at least score twice at home and maintain a clean sheet to keep alive their hopes for reaching the final.

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