The White Knights must beat Ismaily in the final round on Monday to secure a runner-up, which qualifies them for next season’s African Champions League
If they fail to defeat Ismaily, they hope third-placed Pyramids, who are one point behind them, won’t beat Arab Contractors later this month. Champions Ahly secured the first Champions League ticket after winning the league with six rounds to spare last month
But Zamalek also has another vital Champions League test that they are firmly focused on.They meet Moroccan Raja in the semi-final second leg in Cairo on Sunday
They are aware that they can hardly afford to lose any of their key players before meeting Raja, but they also cannot rest some of them and risk a costly fall against Ismaily.
Coach Jaime Pacheco, under whom Zamalek has won four games and drew once, has given no clue as to his side’s selection for the Ismaily game, but he is likely to stick to his ideal lineup
The Portuguese has been credited with instilling much-needed discipline and tightening up a defense that seemed porous when interim coach Tarek Yehia took over following the sudden departure of Frenchman Patrice Carteron last month
Ismaily, who won the last of his three league titles in 2003, has had a bad season, failing to fight for African places after a string of poor results They sit 11th in the 18-team table with 41 points
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Zamalek SC, Ismaily SC, CAF Champions League, Al Ahly SC, Tarek Yehia, Egyptian Premier League
World news – USA – Preview: Fight on Two fronts, Zamalek aims for second place in the final round of the championship – Egyptian football – Sports
