Zamalek's hopes to win a historic treble are all but over after they were handed a heavy 5-1 defeat at the hands of Tunisia's Etoile du Sahel in the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final first leg at Sousse Stadium.

An out-of-form Zamalek went down to Marouane Tej's goal as early as the fifth minute, before forward Baghdad Bounedjah made it two six minutes later.

Wizard forward Ayman Hefni then reduced the arrears with a fine curler on 25 minutes, but Alaya Brigui was there to restore Etoile's two-goal advantage 10 minutes later.

And there were further goals to follow after the break, with the home side registering a historic win thanks to another goal from Tej before defender Saddam Ben Aziza completed the rout in stoppage time.

Jesualdo Ferreira's men, who recorded the season's double after beating arch-rivals Ahly in the Egypt Cup final last week, now have an almost impossible task in the return leg in Cairo - where they should overturn a four-goal deficit on Saturday.

The result marks the Cairo giants' heaviest defeat in Africa since a similar 5-1 thrashing by Ghana's Asante Kotoko in the old format of the current Champions League in 1987.

It's also the first time Zamalek concede five goals in all competitions since another embarrassing 5-0 loss to Haras El-Hodoud in the Egyptian Premier League in 2005.

Early blitz 

The hosts came on with all guns blazing, and it took them just five minutes to take the lead through midfielder Tej, who capitalized on some slack defending from the Egyptian league champions.

Following a cross from striker Bagdad from the right, an unmarked Tej made no mistake from inside the area, with left-back Hamada Tolba and center back duo Ali Gabr and Mohamed Koffi all responsible.

It wasn't only the backline that looked so poor on the night, with midfielders Maarouf Yussuf and Omar Gaber unable to press their opponents properly or control the rhythm of play.

And it was not long till Etoile doubled their advantage, with this time Bagdad turning scorer after targeting the space between Mohamed Koffi and Ali Gabr before sliding home past Egypt keeper Ahmed El-Shennawi.

A fine piece of skill from forward Hefni then gave Zamalek the chance to get back into the game with a curling strike near the edge of the area that beat the keeper at the near corner.

A refereeing blunder deprived the visitors of a well-deserved penalty after attacking right-back Hazem Emam had been tripped inside the area but Etoile remained in control. 

Zamalek were destined to go into the dressing rooms trailing by two goals, with Brigui towering over Tolba inside the box to head his side's third.

The visitors looked to have slightly redeemed themselves after the restart, largely because Etoile had lessened their pressure but still the Egyptians failed to mount a fightback.

Despite introducing another attacking midfielder in Mostafa Fathi at the expense of the below-par Maarouf at the start of the second half, Zamalek had all their hopes of a comeback dashed just seven minutes from the end.

Tej registered his personal brace after collecting a loose ball in front of the box following a Koffi clearance to unleash a powerful strike that beat the hapless El-Shennawi – who was too slow to react. 

And in stoppage time the Tunisians made sure Zamalek almost lost hopes of progressing to the competition's final, when an unmarked Saddam headed past El-Shennawi from close range to make it 5-1.  

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