Nigeria Premier League champions Enyimba lost 4-3 to Libyan side Al-Ahly Benghazi in a thrilling CAF Champions League contest on Sunday night.
Chijoke Mbaoma gave Enyimba the lead in the fourth minute before the hosts equalised five minutes later.
Imo Obot scored an own goal three minutes before the break to hand Al-Ahly the lead for the first time in the game.
Eze Ekwutoziam restored parity for the Aba giants a minute before the hour mark.
The home team restored their lead in the 75th minute.
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Enyimba fought back again, with substitute Murphy Ndukwu poking home from close range five minutes from time.
Al-Ahly Benghazi netted the winning goal deep into stoppage time.
The reverse fixture will take place at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, next Sunday.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid reached the Club World Cup final after goals from Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde, Rodrygo and Sergio Arribas secured a 4-1 win over Egypt’s Al Ahly in Morocco on Wednesday.
Playing without several key starters like forward Karim Benzema and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid experienced a home field environment, with the local fans turning up the noise at the sold-out Prince Moulay Abdallah stadium in Rabat.
The white Real Madrid jerseys outnumbered Al Ahly’s red by a huge margin and the Morocco fans even displayed a giant banner in support of the Spanish giants, creating a vibrant atmosphere and a din that is rare for a Club World Cup in what was supposed to be a neutral stadium.
They struggled to break the deadlock, however, against Al Ahly’s well organised defence, with the Egyptians threatening on the counter-attack.
Vinicius shot wide in the 28th minute and Rodrygo hit the post but Real opened the scoring right on halftime.
Aliou Dieng gave a poor pass to Mahmoud Metwaly who, pressured by Vinicius, lost the ball to the Brazilian and he dinked a fine strike over the goalkeeper, his 50th goal in 202 matches for Real Madrid.
Valverde extended Real’s lead just after the break, tapping into an empty net after the goalkeeper had palmed away Rodrygo’s point-blank strike.
“We thought at 2-0, game over, but that’s not football. We had to do much better, our rhythm dropped, we lost control, we thought the game was won and it isn’t like that, we have to play well and focus until the end,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said.
Vinicius twice wasted opportunities to extend the lead and Al Ahly received a lifeline when Eduardo Camavinga tripped Hussein El Shahat inside the area in the 65th minute and defender Ali Maaloul tucked away the penalty.
Afsha missed a sitter from close-range that would have been the equaliser for Al Ahly and althoughReal’s Luka Modric missed a penalty three minutes from the end of the game.
