Al Ahly head coach Marcel Koller admits winning the CAF Champions League title in his first season with the club is sweet after all the noise made in the group stages.
Ahly were on the brink of an embarrassing group-stage exit, but managed to claw their way through after Mamelodi Sundowns drew with Al Hilal and they beat the Sudan giants at home in their final Group B game to eliminate Florent Ibenge’s troops.
Ahly went on to ease past Raja Atheltic Club and Esperance before outsting last season’s champions Wydad 3-2 on aggregate and lifted the trophy in Casablanca at the Stade Mohamed V – where previous coach Pitso Mosimane missed out on a third consecutive crown last year.
“We are happy with the victory and the title,” he said after the game as per KingFut.
“We knew how difficult the match would be after winning 2-1 in Cairo. I told the players that we must score a goal in the second leg to be the key to winning the title.
“We played the game as we wanted and scored a goal that we trained on throughout the past week.
“We didn’t start the match the way I wanted, and we conceded a goal, but we scored as I told the players.”
The Swiss tactician who is now on course to win the quadruple as they lead the Egyptian Premier League and are still in the round of 32 of the 2022/23 Egypt Cup says it’s an honour to become the first manager from his nation to win the coveted title that made it a record-extending 11th for the Club of the Century.
“The substitutes changed the shape of the team, and unfortunately, we wasted several chances. It could have been possible for us to score more goals,” he continued.
“We insisted on scoring, and we talked at half-time, and we did what we wanted, and we came out with the result we desired.
“I am very happy to be the first Swiss to win the title, and it is a great honour for me to win this title with Al Ahly.
“Many doubted us at the beginning, but we achieved the title in the end.”
