2019 sports yearender: Ahly claim 'hardest title'
Mahmoud Elassal, , Thursday 26 Dec 2019
In a series of stories, Ahram Online compiles the remarkable sporting events of 2019


The hardest title ever. That's how Ahly supporters describe their 41st league trophy lifted last summer.

In January the Red Devils found themselves trailing league leaders Zamalek by 12 points . The board splashed cash in the winter to lure some big names with the likes of Ramadan Sobhi and Hussein El-Shahat to boost the squad.

The team bounced back to winning ways but tough was inconvincible under the helms of Uruguayan tactician Martin Lasarte, who was appointed in January.

They suffered some major setbacks as they were eliminated from the African Champions League suffering their worst defeat on the continental stage as they lost to South African side Mamelodi Sundowns 5-0 in Cape town (5-1 on aggregate) then crashed out of Egypt Cup round of 16 after losing to Pyramids FC 1-0.

However, Ahly made a quick comeback in the league and managed to bridge a 12 point gap with arch-rivals Zamalek to win the title in August.

The Red Devils lifted the trophy with eight points over former leaders Zamalek.

Ahly also succeeded in snatching the Egyptian Super Cup title after beating rivals Zamalek 3-2 ahead of the start on the ongoing season.

Last September, Ahly named Swiss tactician Rene Weiler as the team's new coach, and he succeeded to return the team to winning ways and is expected to return the golden era of the team.

Ahly are currently dominating the Egyptian Premier League table with a full mark of 24 points after playing eight games in the league so far this season.

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