Walid Soliman scored two VAR penalties to give Egypt's Al Ahly a 3-1 first-leg win over Esperance in the African Champions League final in Alexandria.

It was the first time VAR was used in a Champions League final and referee Mehdi Charef watched replays before awarding the spot kicks.

Amr Elsolia scored the other goal for the hosts while Youcef Belaili converted a penalty for Esperance.

The Egyptian club are aiming to win their ninth continental title.

Tunisian side Esperance have won the title twice but they lost 1-0 at home to Ahly in the group stages of the competition.

The second leg takes place at Stade Olympique in Rades on 9 November.

The overall winners will also earn a place at December's Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46057470

Al Ahly, the Real Madrid of Africa

They will surely win the league. Nigeria teams are not Serious.

Man is God to man

Africa real madrid

VAR dey spoil things sometimes abeg.
The heartbreak nor b here o.

Anyways...congrats to Al Ahly...they are in a separate class.

Congrate to them..if VAR favour u,na so e go de sweet ur belle

Must they be doing two legs at the final
Africa and quack mentality sha

drey076:
Must they be doing two legs at the final
Africa and quack mentality sha

must you always copy oyinbo

online news nd pictures dis days is somehow sha.. is the guy jubilating inside the net or outside the net.. hmm i pity his balls

The Real Madrid of africa

drey076:
Must they be doing two legs at the final
Africa and quack mentality sha

The one leg final seems right to u becus it is done in Europe.. And u have never sat down to know why some continents play two leg final abi.

That is one problem with millions of Nigerians.. They don't have the power of research and critical reasoning..

Now, Africa is very large in land mass. Unlike Europe, countries are few drive away from one another..

U can imagine a final between an Egyptian team and a Nigerian team. How many Nigerian fans can travel to let sey South Africa to watch the final?

Also, if Ahly is playing in Nigeria, how many of u will come out to watch it?

Unlike European clubs, African clubs don't have large fan base outside their home countries..

Unlike Europeans, Africans are not rich. Have u checked how much it cost to travel to Egypt for example.. How many Nigerians can afford such luxury just to go and watch football?

They tried this one leg final but it didn't work. Fans couldn't travel. Europe is close to one another, they have train network properly working..

Tell African govt to do more to link African countries together..

U don't have to insult Africans for this..


Finally, I'm sure if Europeans are doing two leg final, and Africans are doing one leg final, u would have insulted Africans for doing one leg final..

One leg final only seem right to u becus Europeans do it. Not only Africa do this two leg final, okay.

Alzirida:
Nice one.
But we need to grow beyond playing finals of biggest Africa club competition two legged

Europeans shouldn't be used for standard of everything in life dear.

Now, Africa is very large in land mass. Unlike Europe, countries are few drive away from one another..

U can imagine a final between an Egyptian team and a Nigerian team. How many Nigerian fans can travel to let sey South Africa to watch the final?

Also, if Ahly is playing in Nigeria, how many of u will come out to watch it?

Unlike European clubs, African clubs don't have large fan base outside their home countries..

Unlike Europeans, Africans are not rich. Have u checked how much it cost to travel to Egypt for example.. How many Nigerians can afford such luxury just to go and watch football?

They tried this one leg final but it didn't work. Fans couldn't travel. Europe is close to one another, they have train network properly working..

Tell African govt to do more to link African countries together first.. I don't blame them that much as the regions in Africa are too far from one another.. But the govt should try and link regions first. For instance, proper transportation system for all west African countries..

Just that the countries with good economy in Africa are scared of this links becus citizens of other countries will invade their country.. And u know we have so many extremely bad doing economies in Africa..


Finally, I'm sure if Europeans are doing two leg final, and Africans are doing one leg final, u would have wished Africans do two leg final.

One leg final only seem right to u becus Europeans do it. Not only Africa do this two leg final, okay.

myfootballface:
Al Ahly, the Real Madrid of Africa

Mr man from nou camp, Don't drag Madrid into this! Se oya werrey ni?

See the VAR they used

The importance of video assistance referee can not be over emphersise

drey076:
Must they be doing two legs at the final
Africa and quack mentality sha

..generate more funds

Alzirida:
Nice one.
But we need to grow beyond playing finals of biggest Africa club competition two legged

There is nothing to grow beyond here. Reality in Africa is different from what obtains in Europe and we don't have to do things the same way.

Africa is a bigger continent than Europe with more countries and poorer citizens and travel conditions.

Imagine Ahly (Egypt) vs Esperance (Tunisia) final played as one leg game in Capetown South Africa. The distance is farther than Lagos-London and cost more. Imagine the costs to the teams, journalists, fans of both clubs etc. How many will be able to make the trip? How many South Africans will bother to pay to attend the match? It will be a dry game played in an empty stadium.

Hope you get the point.

Princedapace:


The one leg final seems right to u becus it is done in Europe.. And u have never sat down to know why some continents play two leg final abi.

That is one problem with millions of Nigerians.. They don't have the power of research and critical reasoning..

Now, Africa is very large in land mass. Unlike Europe, countries are few drive away from one another..

U can imagine a final between an Egyptian team and a Nigerian team. How many Nigerian fans can travel to let sey South Africa to watch the final?

Also, if Ahly is playing in Nigeria, how many of u will come out to watch it?

Unlike European clubs, African clubs don't have large fan base outside their home countries..

Unlike Europeans, Africans are not rich. Have u checked how much it cost to travel to Egypt for example.. How many Nigerians can afford such luxury just to go and watch football?

They tried this one leg final but it didn't work. Fans couldn't travel. Europe is close to one another, they have train network properly working..

Tell African govt to do more to link African countries together..

U don't have to insult Africans for this..


Finally, I'm sure if Europeans are doing two leg final, and Africans are doing one leg final, u would have insulted Africans for doing one leg final..

One leg final only seem right to u becus Europeans do it. Not only Africa do this two leg final, okay.

You are wrong....One legged final is the best. AFCON moved from home and away basis to single Final. It also reduce the possibility of violence charactrised by win at home at all cost

Princedapace:


The one leg final seems right to u becus it is done in Europe.. And u have never sat down to know why some continents play two leg final abi.

That is one problem with millions of Nigerians.. They don't have the power of research and critical reasoning..

Now, Africa is very large in land mass. Unlike Europe, countries are few drive away from one another..

U can imagine a final between an Egyptian team and a Nigerian team. How many Nigerian fans can travel to let sey South Africa to watch the final?

Also, if Ahly is playing in Nigeria, how many of u will come out to watch it?

Unlike European clubs, African clubs don't have large fan base outside their home countries..

Unlike Europeans, Africans are not rich. Have u checked how much it cost to travel to Egypt for example.. How many Nigerians can afford such luxury just to go and watch football?

They tried this one leg final but it didn't work. Fans couldn't travel. Europe is close to one another, they have train network properly working..

Tell African govt to do more to link African countries together..

U don't have to insult Africans for this..


Finally, I'm sure if Europeans are doing two leg final, and Africans are doing one leg final, u would have insulted Africans for doing one leg final..

One leg final only seem right to u becus Europeans do it. Not only Africa do this two leg final, okay.

I understand you,but I think One leg final on a neutral ground is still the best for transparency..
Now the second leg will be played in Tunisia,what do you think will happen if Esperance doesn't fight back and win,and the fans seeing that the Egyptians are winning on their own soil?
We all know Africa football isn't as coordinated as European football, even last season EL final played at Lyon, Marseille fans and Lyon fans still got into problem due to the rivalry between them,and seeing that Marseille came to play on their own soil..
It's not about copying,it's development!
They don't want to develop,because they see it as an avenue for them to even make more money,and don't forget match fixing..

drey076:
Must they be doing two legs at the final
Africa and quack mentality sha

Dey do it in Asia, south and North America champions league don’t be quick to judge because it’s Africa we all hate so much

Dey do it in Asia, south and North America champions league don’t be quick to judge because it’s Africa we all hate so much

Alzirida:
Nice one.
But we need to grow beyond playing finals of biggest Africa club competition two legged

If you are to stop two return leg finals then it has to be played on a Neutral ground like Europe.

and then you got to consider attendance, would there be enough fans from the host country to fill up a stadium when the two clubs involved don't belong to them? E:g if you host it in South Africa as a Neutral ground, and you have Alhly and Esperance ; would the interest of South Africans be enough to fill up the stadium for TV rights, when they know the two teams involved don't represent them?

Larryslim:

I understand you,but I think One leg final on a neutral ground is still the best for transparency..
Now the second leg will be played in Tunisia,what do you think will happen if Esperance doesn't fight back and win,and the fans seeing that the Egyptians are winning on their own soil?
We all know Africa football isn't as coordinated as European football, even last season EL final played at Lyon, Marseille fans and Lyon fans still got into problem due to the rivalry between them,and seeing that Marseille came to play on their own soil..
It's not about copying,it's development!
They don't want to develop,because they see it as an avenue for them to even make more money,and don't forget match fixing..

Bro, u don't understand.. They tried this thing before and the matches were playe in empty stadium.

They tried in different locations but fans didn't turn up in numbers.. It made the match boring..

This is a final for heaven's sake and playing such match in an empty stadium makes it stupid.

Do u have an Ahly fan in Nigeria now for instance? How many Ahly fans can travel such long journey from Egypt to Nigeria? They will first drop at united Arab emirate!

Like I said, Africa is too large and no proper transportation system that links countries around. And finally, most Africans can't afford to travel to other countries just to go and watch matches.. Find out how much it will cost u to travel to Egypt now?
Can u see why CAF stopped the one leg final?

As for transparency, no be today they have been doing it. In 2016, Soundows South Africa played the last leg in Egypt against Zamalek of Egypt. Soundows won the cup right there.. Egyptians didn't misbehave.. Many finals have been played where the visiting team won the leg away.

AFCON is not champions league.

femi4:
You are wrong....One legged final is the best. AFCON moved from home and away basis to single Final. It also reduce the possibility of violence charactrised by win at home at all cost

Nwanna2588:
AFCON is not champions league.

If Afcon can change format nothing stop Champions league for doing the same

femi4:
You are wrong....One legged final is the best. AFCON moved from home and away basis to single Final. It also reduce the possibility of violence charactrised by win at home at all cost

No one is saying it is not the best na.. Can't u people understand?

It used to be one leg final before na but they stopped becus fans weren't going to the stadium to watch the match..

If they host the final for instance in Nigeria now and the match is between a Kenyan team and a Tunisian team, how many Nigerians will go to the stadium to watch it?


Or do u want our own finals to be played in empty stadium?

How many Kenyans for instance can afford to travel to Nigeria, book hotel, pay for tickets to watch their team play here in Nigeria?

Like I said, Africa is large and we don't have transports system that links countries in Africa..

We can't afford to play our caf champions league final in an empty stadium..

So no body is saying one leg is not good but CAF had to stop the one leg final becus Africans don't go to watch visiting teams....

AFCON is different becus it has some of Africans European based players.. U will be glad to go and watch Mohammed Salah.. But how many Ahly players do u know that can make u want to spend 500k to travel to go and watch Ahly okay final in Kenya?

Princedapace:


The one leg final seems right to u becus it is done in Europe.. And u have never sat down to know why some continents play two leg final abi.

That is one problem with millions of Nigerians.. They don't have the power of research and critical reasoning..

Now, Africa is very large in land mass. Unlike Europe, countries are few drive away from one another..

U can imagine a final between an Egyptian team and a Nigerian team. How many Nigerian fans can travel to let sey South Africa to watch the final?

Also, if Ahly is playing in Nigeria, how many of u will come out to watch it?

Unlike European clubs, African clubs don't have large fan base outside their home countries..

Unlike Europeans, Africans are not rich. Have u checked how much it cost to travel to Egypt for example.. How many Nigerians can afford such luxury just to go and watch football?

They tried this one leg final but it didn't work. Fans couldn't travel. Europe is close to one another, they have train network properly working..

Tell African govt to do more to link African countries together..

U don't have to insult Africans for this..


Finally, I'm sure if Europeans are doing two leg final, and Africans are doing one leg final, u would have insulted Africans for doing one leg final..

One leg final only seem right to u becus Europeans do it. Not only Africa do this two leg final, okay.

not close to one another but train connection I live in Vienna but we club in Hungary or Slovakia can you try going from lekki to Togo or cotonu to club?number one there is 50/50chance that one will get killed on the way then bad road inshort is not possible biko

Afonja007:
not close to one another but train connection I live in Vienna but we club in Hungary or Slovakia can you try going from lekki to Togo or cotonu to club?number one there is 50/50chance that one will get killed on the way then bad road inshort is not possible biko

Exactly, we are saying the same thing.. Europeans have inter country mode of transportation.. Easy and affordable..

Also, the citizens can afford the spend to travel.

Na Niaja person go spend almost 600k to travel to Egypt just to go and watch a neutral final between two clubs he knows nothing about any of their players? Lol, how many nigerians can afford it?

Even if super eagles is involved, how many Nigerians can afford it?

That is why those who are shouting one leg final here and there, I just laugh at them becus they don't understand anything..