Weiler dreams of African Champions League glory with Egypt's Ahly

Ahram Online , Friday 22 Nov 2019

Weiler
Rene Weiler (Photo: Ahly official Website)

Rene Weiler is aware of how hungry Ahly are for African Champions League glory -- and so he is.

The Red Devils have not won the continent's top prize since lifting the last of their record eight trophies in 2013, going close twice only to lose to Morocco's Wydad and Tunisia's Esperance in the 2017 and 2018 finals respectively.

They have remained the dominant force in domestic football though, winning the last four editions of the Egyptian Premier League. Weiler is naturally expected to deliver the league title again but more is expected from the Swiss.

"It's the right of Ahly fans to hope for a Champions League crown this season, and it's also a personal dream for me," Weiler said in an interview with the club's official website on Friday.

"But we must not lose sight of the fact that there are strong competitors and they have high-profile coaches and distinguished players, and their ambition is to win the title."

Ahly kick off their group stage campaign against Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel on 29 November. They will also face Sudanese side Al-Hilal and Zimbabwe's Platinum in the group stage.

"It's an essential part of my job to study my opponents and we already did that with Etoile; we know a lot about them. However, our main focus is on our next league match against Gouna, and then we can think about the Etoile match," Weiler added.

Ahly have grabbed six wins out of six since Weiler took over in August.

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