The Cairo giants announced on Wednesday that the match will be played at Alexandria stadium on March 18th as previously scheduled because the Cairo venue will be busy hosting another African encounter for city rivals Ahli.

However, a club official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FilGoal.com on Thursday that Zamalek coach Henri Michel opted to play in Cairo a one day earlier.

Zamalek's original stance was to give players enough time to rest following their Arab Champions League game against Ahli Jeddah away from home on the 13th of March but Michel believed that playing in Cairo is more important.

Ahli chose Cairo Stadium as their official venue at the beginning of the season and therefore had the right to face Highlanders of Zimbabwe on March 18th.

They have also rejected a request from arch-rivals Zamalek to change the fixture's date.

Zamalek have an uphill task if they are to advance to the Champions League round of 16 as they lost 2-0 to Sudan's Hilal in the first-leg.