كتب : Hatem Maher
Although the Cairo giants enjoy a comfortable advantage after a 2-0 victory at home, recent history alerts Zamalek that nothing is taken for granted in football.
Zamalek will have to do without two of their influential men. Strike duo Amr Zaki and Gamal Hamza will miss out on the game for different reasons.
Zaki has failed to link up with his teammates apparently due to injury, but he will be interrogated by Zamalek board to find out whether there is another reason for his absence.
Talented forward Hamza has been ruled out due to an Achilles injury.
Mostafa Gaafar, who doesn't feature regularly, may be fielded as a lone striker against the Ivorians.
Zamalek players are also suffering from hot weather, but assistant coach Mohamed Helmi is confident his side can overcome all problems to go through.
"The players have breathing problems due to the very high temperature," he said.
"But we are capable of overcoming all problems to reach the next round," Helmi was quoted as saying by Egyptian daily Al-Ahram.
Past Shocks
In November 2005, Zamalek astonishingly bowed out of the Arab Champions League at the hands of Raja Casablanca.
Despite defeating Raja 2-0 in Morocco, the men in white were handed a stunning 3-0 defeat at home to exit the competition in a bizarre fashion.
Zamalek were also eliminated from the CAF Champions League round of 32 last season after a surprising 4-2 aggregate defeat to Sudan's Hilal.