Al Ahly head coach Jess Thorup has described his side’s TotalEnergies CAF Champions League quarter-final against Esperance Sportive de Tunis as a “tough mission for both teams” but insists the Egyptian giants remain firmly focused on reaching the semi-finals.
The draw, held in Cairo on Tuesday, paired Africa’s most successful club with the four-time Tunisian champions in one of the standout ties of the last eight.
Al Ahly will travel to Tunisia for the first leg between 13 and 15 March before hosting the decisive return fixture in Cairo a week later — a sequence Thorup believes could prove advantageous.
“I’m happy that we start the first game away, so we can finish up in our own great stadium in the last game,” Thorup said.
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“For me, it’s a very good thing that the first leg will be on their field. And therefore, the second leg will be on our field, in our stadium, in front of our fans.”
Al Ahly progressed to the knockout stage as Group B winners with 10 points, finishing one point ahead of Morocco’s AS FAR.\
However, Thorup was quick to move the focus forward.
“It was nice to be number one in the group, but now this is the past,” he said. “Now we’re looking forward to the quarter-finals.”
The Danish coach acknowledged the strength of the remaining field, emphasising that there are “only big teams left in this competition”.
“All the teams in the quarter-finals are strong. And if you want to win the trophy, you have to win against every opponent,” Thorup said.
“Yes, it’s going to be a tough game. We know this. But we are very much looking forward to this game.”
Esperance, four-time African champions, bring significant pedigree into the tie, setting up a high-profile North African showdown.
The winner will face either Mamelodi Sundowns or Stade Malien in the semi-finals.
Despite the magnitude of the occasion, Thorup stressed that Al Ahly’s objective remains unchanged.
“We started in this competition with only one target — that is winning this trophy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter which opponent we’re going to meet. We only have one goal, which is winning our football game.”
Thorup also underlined the importance of home support in Cairo, describing it as a vital factor in the club’s continental ambitions.
However, he confirmed that the squad’s immediate focus remains on domestic league commitments before attention fully turns to the two-legged showdown.
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For Al Ahly, record 12-time champions of Africa, the mission is clear: navigate a formidable Esperance test and take another step towards continental glory.