A curse and a twist of fate: a terrifying draw for Zamalek in the CAF Champions League
Will he survive this time?
The CAF Champions League draw has handed Zamalek a group packed with unhappy memories, pitching the White Knights into Group Two alongside MC Alger, Tunisia's Club Africain and Tanzania's Young Africans.
Arab opponent = Zamalek's exit from the groups
Since the modern Champions League format launched in 2016, Zamalek have crashed out of the group stage in every edition where an Arab opponent sat in their group.
Take the 2017 edition. The team finished third in a group featuring USM Alger of Algeria, Al-Ahly Tripoli of Libya and CAPS United of Zimbabwe, and went home early.
History repeated itself in 2020-2021. Zamalek faced Esperance of Tunisia, MC Alger of Algeria and Teungueth of Senegal, and never got near the quarter-finals.
Drawn with Wydad of Morocco, Petro de Luanda of Angola and Sagrada Esperança in 2021-2022, they again finished outside the qualification places.
The 2022-2023 edition brought Esperance of Tunisia, CR Belouizdad of Algeria and Al-Merrikh of Sudan. Same story. Out at the group stage.
Now they sit alongside MC Alger of Algeria and Club Africain of Tunisia. Can the White Knights finally break the pattern?
2016: the exclusion of ES Sétif adds another irony
The story becomes even more intriguing back in 2016, when Zamalek battled through the group stage and went all the way to the final.
Algeria's ES Sétif, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and Nigeria's Enyimba made up the rest of their group. Then the Algerian side were expelled after crowd rioting in their match against Sundowns.
Zamalek pressed on once ES Sétif were out, reaching the final before losing the title to Sundowns.
That edition carries a historical irony all of its own. The White Knights advanced from a group in which one of their Arab rivals had been thrown out of the competition.
Topping the group = the final
The second irony? Zamalek reached the final in both of the campaigns in which they escaped the group stage under the modern system.
Having triumphed in the 2016 edition, the side repeated the feat in 2019-2020, qualifying from a group that featured Congo's Mazembe, Angola's Primeiro de Agosto and Zambia's ZESCO United.
They then saw off Tunisia's Esperance in the quarter-final and Morocco's Raja in the semi-final, only to lose 2-1 to Al-Ahly in the final.
Zamalek's escape from the group stage in those two editions, then, delivered a place in the final every time. The rest of their campaigns ended at the group stage.
Breaking the deadlock or fresh disappointment?
The draw hands Zamalek a fresh chance to rewrite that record. At the same time, it revives the old paradox of Arab opponents that has haunted their previous campaigns.
The White side will face MC Alger and Club Africain of Tunisia, alongside Young Africans, in a group where booking the two qualification tickets will be anything but easy.
Two patterns now pull in opposite directions. Zamalek have crashed out of groups featuring Arab opponents, yet they have reached the final every time they have managed to progress. The task is twofold: break the first pattern, repeat the second.
So will this group open a different chapter in their African journey?
