Egyptian club Zamalek beat Djibouti outfit AS Port 2-1 in Cairo on Friday at the start of a quest to win the CAF Champions League a sixth time.
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It took the White Knights just five minutes to move ahead through a close-range shot from Mohamed Shehata and Angolan Chico Banza doubled the lead from a 37th-minute header.
Appearing in the marquee African club competition for the first time, Port halved the deficit through Mahdi Hussein Mahbi with eight minutes of regular time remaining.
There is no international standard stadium in Djibouti, a tiny Horn of Africa nation, so both legs of the first round qualifier will be staged in Cairo. The return match is on September 12.
Zamalek last won the Champions League in 2002, pipping Moroccan club Raja Casablanca 1-0 on aggregate in the two-leg final.
The closest they have come to lifting the trophy since was finishing runners-up to South African side Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016 and to domestic arch rivals Al Ahly four years later.
Meanwhile, Oussama Bentaleb netted just before halftime to give JS Saoura of Algeria a 1-0 home win over Horoya of Guinea.
Another first leg in north Africa also produced a 1-0 home victory. Abdullah Al Arfi struck the 66th-minute winner for debutants Asswehly of Libya over Zanzibari team KVZ.