Al Ahly’s Ahmed Zizo scores against Barcelona to become third player to do so

Ahmed Zizo scored for Al Ahly against Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy, becoming the third player in the Egyptian club’s history to find the net against the Catalan side in a friendly match.

Barcelona led 2-0 at half-time, but Al Ahly reduced the deficit six minutes after the restart when Zizo finished following an excellent pass from Moncef Bekrar, which put him through on goal.

Zizo kept his composure before striking the ball with his left foot towards the right-hand side of Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia. His effort found the net to give Al Ahly hope of mounting a comeback.

The 29-year-old was unable to complete the match, however, as he was substituted in the 59th minute because of an injury. Mohamed Afsha came on in his place.

The fixture marked the conclusion of Al Ahly’s training camp in Spain as the club continued its preparations for the new season.

Zizo followed Taha Ismail and Hany El Egeizy in scoring for Al Ahly against Barcelona in previous friendly meetings. His goal therefore made him the third Al Ahly player to score against the Spanish club.

Al Ahly will begin their Egyptian Premier League campaign against Eastern Company Enppi and will finish the first round of the competition against Wadi Degla.

The club will play 13 of its 19 matches in the opening phase at Cairo International Stadium.

The Egyptian Premier League is scheduled to start on 21 August, with the first phase due to conclude on 20 February. The second phase is planned to begin on 8 March and finish on 28 May, provided there is no alteration to the May schedule because of the finals of continental competitions.

That timetable was outlined by Taha Ezzat, chairman of the competitions committee, who noted that the dates could be affected by the calendar for continental finals.

The league will be played in two stages. The opening phase will consist of a single round-robin competition involving all 20 teams across 19 rounds.

At the end of that phase, the six highest-placed teams will enter the championship group to compete for the title. The teams finishing from seventh to 20th will move into the relegation group to contest survival.

Each team will carry its full points total from the opening phase into the final stage. Standings in the second phase will be determined separately within each group, and the matches in that stage will also be played once rather than home and away.

If two or more clubs finish level on points, their positions in the table will be decided in accordance with Article 15 of the competition regulations.

The four teams at the bottom of the relegation group will be relegated to the division below, the Professional League.