That was the case when Zamalek visited Abidjan to face ASEC Mimosas in the CAF Champions League group stage.

The Cairo giants deployed a cautious strategy as they believed it will help them avoid a defeat against the Ivorian team.

German coach Reiner Hollmann introduced three holding midfielders in Hani Saied, Ayman Abdul-Aziz and Mohamed Aboul-Ella to contain ASEC’s men.

Consequently, Zamalek lacked creativity in midfield and missed the presence of a skilful playmaker who can feed attacking duo Junior Agogo and Gamal Hamza.

To rub salts into the wounds, Zamalek suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat as their hopes of booking a last-four berth were dealt a major blow.

It is quite difficult to understand why the majority of Egyptian teams opt to have a defensive-minded approach whenever the play abroad.

Such risky strategies always prove costly.

Any team can defend well for 90 minutes but a momentary lapse of concentration in stoppage time would easily shatter their hopes of escaping with a draw.

But what would be the outcome if that team implemented a balanced strategy?

For instance, the opposition would be busy trying to defend their goal rather than spending the whole match launching raids on the visiting team.

The visiting team would also have a chance to score a precious goal away from home.

Are there any hopes that Egyptian teams can finally discover that there defensive efforts are to no avail?