Caf Champions League: Will Al Ahly’s Tau equal or break Mputu’s TP Mazembe record?

Al Ahly and South Africa forward Percy Tau is on the verge of breaking Tresor Mputu’s tally in the Caf Champions League.

Tau and his teammates will face off with Wydad Casablanca on May 30 at the Mohamed V Stadium in Morocco and the South African has a chance to equal or break the record set by Tout Puissant Mazembe’s midfielder-cum-striker.

Tau has been directly involved in eight goals - three goals and five assists - more than any other player in the Champions League this season. The last player with more in a single campaign was Mputu in 2018-19 when he was involved in nine goals - four goals and five assists – for the DR Congo giants.

As the former Mamelodi Sundowns star eyes the mark, it will be the third Champions League final between Moroccan and Egyptian sides.

Al Ahly – led by South Africa's Pitso Mosimane - are looking to become the first side to win the competition in three consecutive seasons, after beating Zamalek 2-1 in 2019-20 and Kaizer Chiefs 3-0 in 2020-21.

On the other hand, this will be Wydad Casablanca’s third final in six seasons - after 2017 where they emerged as winners, and 2018-19 when they finished as runners-up; and it is also their fifth overall in the Champions League/Africa Cup of Champions Clubs (W2 L2), the most by a Moroccan side in the competition.

The Egyptian giants have won their last two Champions League matches against Wydad Casablanca - both legs of their semi-final meeting in 2019-20 - and are looking to win three in a row against the Moroccan side for the first time in the competition.

Al Ahly must be aware of Wydad Casablanca’s attacking threat as the Moroccan giants are the top-scoring team in the competition this season with 20 goals. They’ve had nine different players score at least once - excluding own goals – and no side have had more different goal-scorers in the competition this season (level with Mamelodi Sundowns).

Meanwhile, Al Ahly started slowly this season as they failed to score in three of their first four games (W1 D1 L2) but have scored in each of their last six, averaging 2.2 goals per game (13 in total – W4 D2).