Al Ahly coach Marcel Koller has underscored the importance of taking full advantage of playing at home to get their first win against Medeama SC in the CFA Champions League group stage.
The record holders of the competition will come up against the Ghana Premier League champions on Saturday at Al Salam Stadium in Cairo.
While Koller emphasised the need to deploy a balanced approach he mentioned the need to capitalise on playing in front of the home crowd.
“I hope the players will be fully focused against Medeama,” Koller stated during the pre-match press conference. “We must balance attacking with defending since they are equally important.”
“We must capitalise on the advantage of playing at home in front of our fans,” Koller remarked. “We need to be smart in our approach against the Ghanaian team to achieve the desired outcome.”
Koller recognised the difficulties in obtaining information about African teams in contrast to their European counterparts. He disclosed that he has reviewed three matches of Medeama to glean insights into their strengths and weaknesses.
“I hope the team will be at full strength during training,” Koller added. “Al Ahly is a big club, and the players are involved with national teams. Despite the additional travel and matches, we have faith in our players’ experience to handle this situation.”