The ugly sound of monkey chants and the sinister sight of football fans performing Nazi salutes have been beamed around the world. Now all eyes turn to UEFA, European football s governing body. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the racist abuse England s black players suffered before and during the Euro 2020 qualifying match against Bulgaria in Sofia on Monday as "vile" and has told UEFA to act swiftly, to "face up to facts." After a night English Football Association s chairman Greg Clarke described as "one of the most appalling I ve seen in football," the pressing question now is: What punishment will Bulgaria face for some of its fans abhorrent behavior? The fallout has already begun. Bulgaria s Prime Minister called for the president of the country s football association to resign immediately. Borislav Mihaylov has since announced he will step down. In addition, the country s interior ministry confirmed six people have been detained in connection with the racist abuse. "Work is still ongoing to identify other participants in the incident," read a statement Wednesday. But if football wants to eradicate the racism which is bringing shame on the sport, what UEFA does next will have the biggest impact on effecting change. UEFA s disciplinary proceedings have begun, with the Bulgarian Football Union charged with racist behavior, including chants and Nazi salutes, and the disruption of a national anthem and displaying replays on a giant screen. The English FA faces sanctions too, over national anthem disruption and an insufficient number of traveling stewards. World governing body FIFA has also asked UEFA to notify it of any punishment potentially handed down to the BFU. "This would allow any sanctions imposed to be extended worldwide," said a FIFA statement. Should the match have been abandoned? But UEFA has already been heavily criticized, for what happened at the Levski Stadium in Bulgaria s capital, and for perceived ineffectual responses to previous racist incidents. Troy Townsend, a member of the anti-discrimination organization Kick It Out, has said UEFA should ban Bulgaria from Euro 2020. "It s the only way people will take note of what they are doing to our black players," he said. Former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright, working as a pundit for UK broadcaster ITV, said the scenes in Bulgaria was "showing up UEFA for what they are," while Kick It Out itself has said the governing body failed to correctly implement its three-step protocol during England s 6-0 victory. Monday s match, Kick It Out said, should have been abandoned. The Euro qualifier was stopped twice with fans warned of the consequences of their continued racist behavior. England manager Gareth Southgate said his players wanted to carry on playing and admitted his team was in an "impossible situation." "We gave two messages -- one that our football did the talking and two, we stopped the game twice," he told reporters. "Not one player wanted to stop, they were absolutely firm on that." Gareth Southgate speaks with referee Vasil Levski during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier. UEFA insists its three-step procedure must be followed in the event of racist chants from the stands. It was put to the test in Sofia. The first step of that procedure is to bring the match to a halt and instruct the stadium authorities to call on spectators to stop the discriminatory behavior. If that goes unheeded, another announcement is made and the match is suspended with players sent to their dressing rooms for a "specific period." Lastly, following consultation, the match will be abandoned "if the discriminatory behavior still does not cease or breaks out again." Did the protocol fail? There are those, England s players and coaching staff included, who would argue that England s players did their talking on the pitch despite the toxic atmosphere in which they played. But Kick It Out has questioned why the players weren t sent to the dressing rooms during the second step of the protocol. "TV footage also clearly shows that racist abuse continued in the second half, so it is unacceptable that step three was not enforced," the organization said in a statement. Such is the sorry state of racism in football, the abuse England s black players suffered in Bulgaria had been anticipated. Last week striker Tammy Abraham said he and his teammates had resolved to walk off the pitch if they were subjected to racist abuse in Bulgaria and had discussed defying UEFA protocols. There should only be one step, said the Chelsea striker, if there is racist chanting and that is to walk off. If ahead of an international match players are conducting meetings in expectation of some members of the team being racially abused, is that in itself not a sign that the protocols and punishments already in place are not working? After all, the Levski stadium was partially closed for the England game as punishment for the behavior of some of Bulgaria s fans in June matches against the Czech Republic and Kosovo. A partially closed stadium can still be a racist stadium. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has defended his organization against the criticism it is facing over the handling of recent racist incidents. "I know we are not going to win popularity contests," he said in a statement on Tuesday. "But some of the views expressed about UEFA s approach to fighting racism have been a long way off the mark. UEFA s sanctions are among the toughest in sport for clubs and associations whose supporters are racist at our matches." "Boring," tweeted Townsend in response to the statement. Ceferin made reference to the 10-match ban from European football given to Kostiantyn Makhnovskyi -- goalkeeper of Latvian side FK Ventspils -- in August for "racist conduct" during a Europa League tie against Malta s Gzira United. But UEFA s past punishments have raised eyebrows. In 2012, English club Manchester City was fined 30,000 euros ($33,106) for coming out of the second half of a game "up to 60 seconds later" than scheduled. A month earlier, Porto fans had been fined 20,000 euros ($22,071) for racially abusing then City striker Mario Balotelli. No single UEFA fine has come close to matching the 100,000 euro ($110,355) penalty handed to Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner for exposing sponsored underpants while celebrating a goal against Portugal at Euro 2012. Indeed, to much derision, Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas was fined 34,000 euros ($37,520) for allowing a cat to enter the pitch during its Champions League encounter with Bayern Munich in March 2018, while in November of that year Greece was handed a partial stadium ban and the country s football federation fined 9,819 euros ($10,822) for the racist behavior of some fans in a 1-0 win over Estonia. Fines are meted out, stadiums are closed, and yet racism in football continues, as it has done for decades. Serbia s Red Star Belgrade was reportedly ordered to pay UEFA fines totaling 191,000 euros ($210,486) last season and, so far in this campaign, the club has received fines totaling 122,000 euros ($134,446) for failing to control its fans. Yet, Red Star continues to compete in UEFA s Champions League, a competition which distributed a total of 2.04 billion euros ($2.25bn) to clubs competing in the competition in the 2018/19 season. UEFA orders clubs and federations to display banners with the wording "#EqualGame" but what use is that if, as happened on Monday, fans hold aloft jumpers with "No Respect" and a fake UEFA logo emblazoned across it? Under UEFA rules, a first offense for racist behavior and other discriminatory conduct and propaganda results in a partial stadium ban as a minimum penalty, which occurred on Monday. A second offense leads to one match being played behind closed doors and a fine of 50,000 euros ($55,000). A third offense, says UEFA, is "punished with more than one match behind closed doors, a stadium closure, the forfeiting of a match, the deduction of points and/or disqualification from competition." The statement issued by UEFA s president on Tuesday said "football family" must "wage war on the racists." "Football associations themselves cannot solve this problem. Governments too need to do more in this area. Only by working together in the name of decency and honor will we make progress," said Ceferin. UEFA s task is not an easy one. It cannot tackle racism on its own, but whatever punishment it decides to hand out to Bulgaria will speak louder than its words.

Egyptian Football Association (EFA) official Mohamed Fadl said on Wednesday that the EFA was forced to postpone the Cairo derby between Ahly and Zamalek upon the request of Egyptian security authorities, stressing that the EFA had no intention to make any modifications in the Egyptian League fixtures. The EFA announced late on Tuesday the postponement of the Cairo derby, which was scheduled for Saturday, due to security concerns. The new date for the game has not been revealed. They added that EFA officials exerted great effort with security authorities to hold the game as scheduled, but they failed to convince the authorities to reverse the decision. The decision to postpone the derby has been heavily criticised by many clubs, especially since the EFA had promised at the season start that no changes would be made in the new season s schedule. "The derby postponement is purely a decision by security authorities," Fadl told the EFA s official website on Wednesday. "Any club that rejects this decision can discuss the matter with security authorities." Ahly are at the top of the league table with nine points from three games, two points ahead of second-placed Zamalek.

Ahly midfielder Amr El-Sulaya has been cleared for the game against Zamalek in the Cairo derby set for Saturday after recovering from a torn ankle injury, the Red devils physician Khaled Mahmoud said on Monday. The Red Devils are preparing to face their arch-rivals Zamalek in the 4th matchday of the Egyptian Premier League over the weekend. The 30-year-old international had sustained the ankle injury during the Red Devils 5-1 win over newly promoted Aswan last week. "El-Sulaya participated in the team s latest trainings ... he has fully recovered from the injury," the Ahly physician added. Ahly have had a blistering start to the new Egyptian Premier League season, cruising to the top of the league table with the maximum nine points from their first three games. The team, who are eyeing a fifth straight league crown, are two points ahead of Zamalek and Pyramids.

Ahly s management have played down reports of signing Zamalek s former winger Mahmoud "Kahraba" Abdel-Moneim, confirming that the Red Devils Swiss coach Rene Weiler did not ask to sign the player next January. Egyptian media reported last week that the Egypt national team and current Das Aves of Portugal player was on the verge of wearing Ahly s jersey when the winter transfer window reopens. "Kahraba is a good player but we never contacted him," Ahly s Marketing and Football Contracts Director Amir Tawfik told a television programme late on Saturday. "We didn t negotiate with Kahraba, all that s been reported about signing the player is false," Tawfik said. Kahraba sparked controversy after opting to unilaterally terminate his contract with Zamalek to move to Aves in the close season. The 25-year-old claimed that his contract was not valid and that it had already run out. Zamalek, however, said the player had signed an extension and could not leave without the club s consent. "If we intended to speak with Kahraba to sign him we would first negotiate with his Portuguese club and may open talks with other parties involved in the negotiations, but nothing has happened so far," Tawfik said. "[Ahly coach] Rene Weiler did not ask to sign Kahraba in January since the coach has not yet determined his needs." Kahraba is known for his silky moves and catchy feints down the flank as well as his goal-scoring abilities, but he is often criticised for failing to live up to his potential due to his disciplinary problems. He had brief and unsuccessful spells in European football with Swiss duo Luzern and Grasshopper.

Italy secured a place at next year s European Championship finals with three games to spare thanks to a 2-0 win over Greece at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday. A second-half penalty from Chelsea midfielder Jorginho gave the hosts the lead before Federico Bernardeschi drilled in the winner 12 minutes from time. Roberto Mancini s side have won all seven of their qualifying matches and top Group J on 21 points, having ended fifth-placed Greece s slim hopes of qualification. Finland suffered a thumping 4-1 defeat away to Bosnia & Herzegovina but remain second on 12 points, two ahead of Bosnia and Armenia, who missed a golden opportunity to go joint second when they were held to a 1-1 draw away to rock-bottom Liechtenstein. Italy, dressed in their controversial new green shirt for the first time instead of the usual blue, toiled during the first half as a well-drilled Greek side stopped the hosts from registering any shots on target despite them boasting 72% of possession. Mancini s side found the breakthrough when Lorenzo Insigne s shot was blocked by the arm of defender Andreas Bouchalakis just after the hour mark, and Jorginho sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the resulting spot kick. The result was put beyond doubt late on when substitute Bernardeschi fired a shot into the bottom corner from outside the box. "We were too frenetic in the first half but should ve patiently moved the ball around to open up spaces,” Mancini told Rai Sport. “Instead, we started long balls and that s no good. “It was a much more relaxed second half, we kept focused and achieved our objective.” Victory assured Italy, who failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup finals, of top spot in their group and extended their winning run to eight matches in all competitions, one short of the all-time record set by Vittorio Pozzo s side of 1938/39. An intriguing battle for second place is developing after two goals from Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic helped Bosnia & Herzegovina to thrash Finland 4-1 in Zenica. Izet Hajrovic and Armin Hodzic also found the net for the hosts either side of a penalty and volley from Pjanic, while Joel Pohjanpalo bagged a late consolation for the Finns. Armenia squandered the chance to draw level with Finland on 12 points after they took the lead away to Liechtenstein through Tigran Barseghyan, only for Yanik Frick to equalise with 18 minutes remaining.

Ahly coach Rene Weiler has assured that the team is currently concentrating on the Egyptian Premier League, especially as the team is scheduled to clash with Zamalek in the Cairo derby next week. Ahly will face Zamalek in the fourth round of the Egyptian Premier League on 19 October. "It is too early at this time to think about our matches in the African championship, as we have to concentrate on the league competition and take it step by step," Weiler told Ahly s official website.

AC Milan hired Stefano Pioli as coach on Wednesday to replace the fired Marco Giampaolo. Pioli, who has previously coached city rival Inter Milan, agreed to a two-year contract. Milan announced the news in a brief statement . Pioli, who is an Inter fan, coached the Nerazzurri during the 2016-17 season but was fired after losing 10 of 27 matches. He then went on to coach Fiorentina but left the club in April after a slew of poor results.

AC Milan has fired coach Marco Giampaolo, making his tenure in charge the shortest of any manager in club history. Giampaolo was only hired in June as a replacement for Gennaro Gattuso, who stepped down as Milan coach after a fifth-place finish meant the Rossoneri missed out on the Champions League. However, Milan has lost four of his seven matches in charge. "AC Milan announces it has relieved Mr. Marco Giampaolo from his position as coach of the First Team, the club said in a statement on its website. ``The Club is grateful to Marco for the work carried out and wishes him all the best to come in his professional career. Italian media said Milan is expected to replace him with Stefano Pioli _ who has previously coached its city rival Inter Milan Pioli, a self-confessed Inter fan, coached the Nerazzurri during the 2016-17 season but was fired in May of that campaign after losing 10 out of 27 matches. It is the second coaching change in two days in Serie A after Eusebio Di Francesco left Sampdoria by mutual consent on Monday. Di Francesco replaced Giampaolo in the offseason.

A gamble by Zamalek s under-fire coach Micho to rest some regulars backfired as the Cairo giants were held to a surprise 1-1 draw by debutants FC Masr in the Egyptian Premier League on Sunday. Achraf Bencharki put Zamalek ahead on the quarter-hour mark but Omar Habashi scored FC Masr s first ever goal in the top flight to draw them level on the stroke of halftime. Zamalek were even lucky to escape a shock loss as FC Masr wasted some goalscoring chances, especially in the dying minutes when their fancied opponents poured forward in search of a precious winner. The result ends Zamalek s winning start and leaves them two points behind leaders and defending champions Ahly, who kicked off their campaign with three straight and convincing victories. Both sides meet in the Cairo derby in their next match on 19 October. Micho surprisingly opted to leave out several key players, including the regular defensive pair and influential Tunisian midfielder Ferjani Sassi. Zamalek took a 15th minute lead when Youssef Ibrahim s chipped pass found Bencharki at the far post and the Moroccan fired home from a tight angle, helped by the poor positioning of the keeper. Until this point, FC Masr looked unbalanced but Zamalek failed to make the most of that and the lowly side grew increasingly dangerous after falling behind. They wasted two clear-cut chances to equalize, with a header from Ahmed Abdel Mawgoud missing an open net after keeper Mohamed Awad mis-judged a cross and Mostafa Sultan volleying high over with the goal at his mercy after cross picked him out unmarked. FC Masr deservedly leveled the score just before the half-time whistle after taking advantage of some sloppy defending. Habashi sneaked between the two centre backs to fire into the roof of the net after meeting a cross from the right. Zamalek s lone striker Omar El-Saied could have restored Zamlek s advantage on two occasions early in the second half, heading just wide from close range and striking the legs of the keeper with a low shot from four yards out. The White Knights surged forward but hardly threatened their resolute opponents, who were also dangerous on breakaways in a lengthy stoppage time.

midfielder Amr El-Sulaya will undergo medical scans to determine the seriousness of the injury he sustained during the Red Devils 5-1 win over newly promoted Aswan in the Egyptian Premier League on Saturday, the club has said. "The primary medical check proved that El-Sulaya is suffering from a torn ankle as a result of the injury he sustained during the Aswan game," Ahly s doctor Khaled Mahmoud told the club s official website on Sunday. "The player will give the report of the medical scans to the Egypt national team technical staff as he was called up to join the coming camp," he added. Ahly have had a blistering start to the new Egyptian Premier League season, crushing Aswan 5-1 on Saturday and cruising to the top of the league table with the maximum nine points from their opening three games. The team, who are eyeing a fifth straight league crown, are three points ahead of Zamalek and Pyramids, who could level with them if they win their matches. Under the helm of Egypt national team s newly-appointed coach Hossam El-Badry, the Pharaohs will start a new era next month when they launch the preparatory camp ahead of the friendly game against Botswana that will take place in Cairo on 14 October. On Saturday, before the Ahly-Aswan match, El-Badry had announced a 19-man squad of Egypt-based players, which had included El-Sulaya. Egypt are competing in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, as well as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Ramadan Sobhi continued his blistering start to the season to inspire Ahly to an easy 4-0 victory over El-Entag El-Harby as the defending champions made it two wins out of two in the Egyptian Premier League on Wednesday. The 22-year-old, who is on loan from English side Huddersfield Town, scored and provided an assist to build on the goal he scored in the opening 1-0 win over Smouha. Hussein El-Shahat, Junior Ajayi and substitute Walid Soliman were also on target as Ahly tore their hapless opponents to shreds. The Red Devils top the table with maximum six points from two matches, having secured their fifth straight win from as many matches under new Swiss coach Rene Weiler, whose attacking strategies are proving popular with the team s demanding supporters. Sobhi stole the show with a virtuoso display in the first half even though he spurned three clear-cut chances, linking up with playmaker Magdi Afsha and left-back Ali Maaloul to devastating effect. He struck the bar with a low shot from inside the area early on but made amends in the 25th minute after finishing off a flowing move. In-form Nigerian forward Ajayi flicked the ball over two challengers and fed Afsha, who slipped the ball through for Sobhi to fire home past the advancing keeper. Sobhi was also thwarted by the keeper in a one-on-one after a quickly-taken free kick and drilled just wide from the center of the penalty area. Ahly could have paid for their wastefulness as El-Entag wasted two goal-scoring chances either side of the interval. On the stroke of halftime, Mohamed Vieira fired over the bar with the goal at his mercy and, early in the second half, Mamadou Niass missed an open goal after a free header was superbly denied by a one-handed save from Ahly keeper Mohamed El-Shennawi. But that was as far as El-Entag got, with Ahly quickly reasserting their control and toying with their opponents to ensure their win. A threaded pass released Sobhi in the 56th minute and he rounded the keeper, dallied on the ball and cut it back to the unmarked El-Shahat, who made no mistake with a composed finish. Ajayi added the third 13 minutes later with a close-range finish after some fine work from Maaloul down the left and Soliman completed the rout three minutes from time after being fed by El-Shahat.

Egypt s Al-Ahly Sporting Club on Tuesday addressed the Chief of the Presidential Staff, the Public Prosecutor, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Interior Minister, calling on them to intervene to deter Zamalek president Mortada Mansour from “spreading lies” and defaming the family of Mahmoud El Khatib, chairman of Ahly. In a statement published on its official page on Facebook, Ahly said that its administration and fans have “reached their limit” regarding the offences of the President of Zamalek. Ahly said in a statement that Mansour is now defaming families and spreading lies through phone-ins with satellite channels. Ahly called on the House of Representatives to lift Mansour s immunity in order to hold him accountable before the law. Ahly said that the House of Representatives is supposed to defend the rights of the people, not of Mansour, who is a member of parliament. Ahly also sent a letter to the Interior Minister, warning him that the president of Zamalek is playing a dangerous game at a time when the country needs to join hands rather than dissent, noting that what Mansour is doing could lead to strife on Egyptian streets. For his part, head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority Turki Al-Sheikh, who is known to be an ally of Mansour, announced his support for Mahmoud El Khatib following the verbal attacks by Mansour. Al-Sheikh wrote on his official Facebook page: “Captain Khateeb … I do not accept, ever, outrageous words or defaming of family … I support him in that case.” Al-Sheikh is known to have had a strong relationship with Mansour over the past season. He has confirmed on several occasions that he recruited a group of current Zamalek players with his own money and has also hinted that he paid the monthly salary of Swiss coach Christian Gross until he left at the end of May 2019. Conversely, Mansour said that no one can incite strife between him and Al-Sheikh. He added: “Ahly s complaints will not scare me.” “Do you want me to shut up after Ahly insulted Zamalek club and said that it is not patriotic club?” Mansour said in a phone-in with AlHadath Alyoum satellite channel on Wednesday.

Ahly will be looking to maintain their perfect start under Swiss coach Rene Weiler when they meet El-Entag El-Harby in their second Egyptian Premier League game on Wednesday. The Red Devils have claimed four wins out of four matches since Weiler arrived, including a superb 3-2 victory over Cairo rivals Zamalek in the Egyptian Super Cup. They also kicked off the defence of their league title with a 1-0 win over Smouha and defeated Equatorial Guinea s Cano Sport home and away in the African Champions League to reach the group stage. "Tomorrow s match is important because we want to continue our good start," Ahly s football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz said on the club s official website. "El-Entag is a very good team who knows well how to play against high-profile clubs. They earned a point against Ahly in our meeting in the first half of last season." Weiler has yet to settle on his ideal starting line-up, rotating his side too often due to a packed schedule of matches. But new recruit Aliou Dieng could force his way into the starting line-up after producing a superb display against Cano Sport as Ahly won 4-0 in the second leg of the Champions League second round. The burly Malian defensive midfielder impressed with his physical presence and accurate passes. He was also on target, opening the scoring with a close-range effort. El-Entag also opened their league campaign with a win, crushing promoted side FC Masr 3-0.

Egyptian Football Association (EFA) s spokesman Osama Ismail revealed on Sunday that Zamalek s standing concerning their cancelled game against Senegal s Generation Foot is safe. The game between Zamalek and Generation Foot was cancelled yesterday after the Senegalese team failed to show up in protest against the Confederation of Africa Football s (CAF) decision to postpone the game for one day. "Zamalek s situation is safe. There re no problems at all and we will explain everything in our reply letter to the CAF," Ismail told MBC Masr TV channel. "We re committed to what the CAF stated concerning holding African competitions games with the presence of spectators, and we had to move the game to Borg El-Arab Stadium due to obligatory circumstances" "Thus, all the games in African competitions were moved to Borg El-Arab such as Ahly and Masry s matches. Domestic league games held in Cairo were between teams which don t have a wide fan base, unlike Zamalek," he concluded. The CAF issued a statement on Sunday evening saying it is examining the situation. "CAF has been closely following the situation regarding the second leg, of the second preliminary round of the Total CAF Champions League 2019/20 between Zamalek (Egypt) and Generation Foot (Senegal), which was due to take place over the weekend," the statement said. "The relevant CAF bodies and representatives are currently examining the situation and further information and updates will be issued in due time," the statement said.

A double from Ahmed Yasser gave Masry an easy 3-1 home victory over Zanzibar s Malindi and a place in the CAF Confederation Cup playoff on Sunday. Masry advanced with a comprehensive 7-2 aggregate victory over their lowly opponents. Yasser needed four minutes to put the aggregate result beyond doubt, volleying home at the far post following a superb cross. Ibrahim Aly brought Malindi level with a bullet header in the 33rd minute but Yasser struck again 10 minutes into the second half to make it 2-1. Nigerian forwar Austin Amutu put the icing on the cake with a 60th-minute goal. Masry will face one of the teams that exited the African Champions League in the next round for a place in the Confederation Cup group stage.

Liverpool midfielder James Milner can be the ideal role model for the club s young players after the 33-year-old shepherded them to a 2-0 League Cup win at MK Dons on Wednesday, manager Juergen Klopp has said. Milner opened the scoring against the League One (third-tier) side for his first goal in the competition since 2010 and set up another for 17-year-old Dutchman Ki-Jana Hoever to draw praise from Klopp. "This man is on fire, that s how it is. It helps a lot. He s a real role model for young players. If he could play every day, Millie would be like this every day... absolutely brilliant," Klopp told a news conference. "The most experienced and the player with the most rhythm was the best player on the pitch -- Millie was pretty obvious... it s so important that we still do these games, that we are brave enough to use the boys. "We re not here with this line-up because we don t respect the competition, we are here to win the game, no other reason." Liverpool set up a clash with Arsenal in the fourth round and Klopp, who named four teenagers in his starting side, said youngsters would continue to get more opportunities. "They all have the right environment so we will improve that environment as well, we will bring in more manpower there that we can really take care of these boys more," Klopp added. Milner welcomed the competition for places. "When you look at how good our squad is, it s not easy for the youngsters to get to the level they need to be, but they ve shown they want to get better," Milner said. "Everyone is pushing and that s what the senior boys need: competition for places."

Ahly duo Walid Azaro, and Mohamed Mahmoud have recovered from injuries and are ready to participate in Wednesday s training, according to the club s official website. The 24-year-old Moroccan striker Azaro underwent a rehabilitation programme after suffering from a knee injury during his participation with his national team in a recent international break, and he will be compensating with Ahly for the absence of striker Marwan Mohsen due to injury. Mohamed Mahmoud suffered a critical ligament surgery on 8 January in Smouha s game in the 15th round of 2018-2019 Egyptian Premier League, where he was substituted in the 57th minute of the game. The 21-year-old midfielder joined Ahly in January from Wadi Degla, and played only two games before his injury. Ahly will continue their fight for the ninth CAF Champions League title on Saturday, as the Cairo giants will host Equatorial Guinea s Cano Sport in the second leg of the 32nd round of the African clubs tournament. The first leg match ended with Ahly s 2-0 victory. "Yes, we won in Equatorial Guinea, but this doesn t mean that we have already qualified. Ahly always respect their counterpart and play each game as if it s the most important game of the season," Ahly s assistant coach Samy Komsan told the club s official website. "Winning the Egypt Super Cup and gaining the first three points in the Egyptian Premier League after defeating Smouha gave the team a positive push ahead of the new season," Komsan said.

An early goal from promising striker Mostafa Mohamed was enough for nervy Zamalek to beat Ittihad of Alexandria 1-0 in Cairo on Monday to secure a winning start to their league campaign. Serbian coach Milutin Sredojevic "Micho" made six changes to the team that lost to Ahly at the weekend, leaving out several regular starters including captain Mahmoud "Shikabala" Abdel-Razeq, Achraf Bencharki, Youssef "Obama" Ibrahim and suspended Tarek Hamed Zamalek got off to a flying start when Mohamed latched onto a long pass from Ahmed "Zizo" El-Sayed to send a left-footed shot in off the far post in the fifth minute. A few minutes later Ittihad keeper was forced to make a superb stretch to deny Hamdi Nagguez s free kick. The Whites lost their rhythm after the opening 15 minutes allowing Ittihad to push forward seeking the equalizer. They had their best chances when Uganda striker Emmanuel Okwi slipped past his marker but his close range shot was denied by a fine tackle from Mahmoud Alaa before Khaled Kamar s free kick was easily held by keeper Mohamed Awad. The Alexandrian side upped their game after the interval and gained control of play but failed to create any real threat on the hosts keeper. Zamalek sat back on defence and relied on counter-attacks that became rare as the clock was ticking. Micho introduced Obama, Omar El-Said and Mohamed Abdel-Shafi in an attempt to turn around his fortunes but the team struggled to make an impact. Ittihad came close to an equalizer in the 80th minute as El-Sayed Salem s cross found Okwi unmarked in the area but his header went easily in the hands of the keeper. The visitors also claimed a late penalty as Alaa denied Kamar s powerful shot from inside the box but the referee waved play on.

Ahly, fresh from an impressive 3-2 Super Cup victory over Zamalek, launch their bid to win the Egyptian Premier League for the fifth straight season against Smouha in Alexandria on Monday. The Red Devils produced a brilliant attacking display in their second match under Swiss coach Rene Weiler to outclass their perennial challengers in the season curtain-raiser on Friday, sending an early statement of intent. Last season, they managed to bridge an eight-point gap to deprive Zamalek of their first league title since 2015 and maintain their dominance of the premier domestic competition, which they won a staggering 41 times. Ahly can take heart from the superb display of Nigerian forward Junior Ajayi against Zamalek as he scored twice and proved a handful with his moves, turns and unique ability to keep the ball under control. Hamdi Fathi is also coming across as a solid defensive midfielder, replacing ageing skipper Hossam Ashour who is way past his prime. With Ahly also signing another midfielder in Malian Aliou Dieng, playmaker Magdi Afsha and central defender Mahmoud Metwalli, they look well-equipped to defend their title. "We are now fully focused on the league campaign. The new technical staff arrived just two weeks ago but we are fully ready," Ashour, a long-serving midfielder, said following the win over Zamalek.

Ahly chairman Mahmoud El-Khatib said on Saturday the team s management will do their best to achieve the fans domestic and continental ambitions this season. On Friday evening, Ahly downed Zamalek 3-2 following an exciting duel at Alexandria s Borg El-Arab Stadium, winning their 11th Egyptian Super Cup. "Winning a trophy ahead of the new season entails that a big responsibility will be shouldered by the club in the coming games to claim more victories and trophies," El-Khatib was quoted as saying on the Ahly website after the game. "We are working to please Ahly s fans and make their domestic and continental ambitions come true." On Monday, Ahly, last year s Egyptian League champions, will kick off their title-defending bid in the new season against Smouha. Ahly also moved closer to a place in the African Champions League group stage after second-half goals from two substitutes powered them to a 2-0 away win over Equatorial Guinea s Cano Sport. Ahly, the eight-times Africa champion, has failed to win any continental title since winning the Africa Confederation Cup in 2014.

German referee Felix Brych will officiate Friday s domestic Super Cup game between Cairo rivals Ahly and Zamalek in Alexandria, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said on Wednesday. Brych will be joined by assistants Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp, the EFA said in a statement. The 44-year-old is no stranger to Egyptian football, having officiated Ahly s loss to Haras El-Hodoud in the 2010 Egypt Cup final and Zamalek s win over Al-Hilal in the Egyptian-Saudi Super Cup last year. He was in charge of some high-profile matches in European football, including the 2014 Europa League final between Sevilla and Benfica and the 2017 Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid. Brych was also the referee of Tuesday s Champions League game between Liverpool and Napoli, which the Italian side won 2-0 in the opening match of the group stage. Ahly are the record winners of the Super Cup with 10 titles, seven clear of Zamalek.