When the Red Devils swept to a second consecutive Champions League crown last season, they surprisingly threw away a comfortable lead over Zamalek in the Premier League to eventually lose the title to their perennial Cairo rivals.

That was in part due to the difficulty of keeping up with the physical demands of competing for both honours, which is likely to be the case again this season as Ahly and Zamalek are locked in a routine battle for the domestic title.

Ahly, who face Talae El-Geish on Wednesday, are second in the table with 31 points, four behind leaders Zamalek, who played three games more.

Last term, Ahly were also burdened with a handful of rescheduled matches after they finished their Champions League campaign, a run which saw them drop points to allow Zamalek to overtake them.

But they will have to go one better this time around as they fight on two fronts.

Ahly's previous league game was a huge disappointment as they slumped to their first defeat of the season -- a 1-0 loss to Masry after being largely outplayed.

They are expected to face another tricky test against El-Geish, who defeated Ahly on penalties in the Egyptian Super Cup to win their first ever title in September last year.

Ahly will miss key winger Ahmed Abdel-Kader, their primary source of creativity who was ruled out to a shoulder complaint.

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