By Piers Edwards

Anis Boujelbene aims to lift the club's first Champions League title

CS Sfaxien are not even the biggest club in Tunisia yet they could be crowned Africa's best next month.

Dwarfed in their homeland by Esperance, Club Africain and Etoile du Sahel, the Sfax-based side contests its first Champions League final against Egypt's Ahly this weekend.

Only once have Sfaxien appeared in a major African final, when the likes of Hatem Trabelsi and Skander Souayah lifted the then Caf Cup in 1998.

Now, the new generation has the chance to go one better and enshrine Sfaxien's name on African club football's most prestigious trophy for the first time.

Standing in their way are the formidable Ahly, four-time holders of the title as well as the reigning champions.

We believe we can win the title Sfaxien coach Mrad Mahjoub

Yet Sfaxien coach Mrad Mahjoub is not overawed by the task in hand.

"We know everything about Ahly," the coach said ahead of the final of African club football's premier event.

"The team is almost Egypt's national team but we'll deal with them intelligently and we'll make sure we absorb the fans' enthusiasm and drive them to support us instead.

"After reaching the final, we are very optimistic and we believe we can win the title."

After the recovery of injured midfielder Haitham Mrabet, Club Sportif Sfaxien - to give the club its full name - will be at maximum strength for the final.

This will cheer the 4,000 supporters who are making the trip across North Africa from Sfax to the Cairo International Stadium.

Often described as Tunisia's second city, because only the capital Tunis has more inhabitants, Sfax is filled with supporters who follow the team closely.

Sfaxien will play the second leg of the final in Tunis, not Sfax

"Sfaxien belongs to the city," Tunisian sports journalist Mourad Teyeb told BBC Sport.

"People from Sfax are known as very serious, very devoted and very professional - not only in football but also in business and education.

"In football, they produce the best style in Tunisia, something they probably value above winning.

"They give more importance to beautiful play - that's what Sfax is known for in Tunisia and in Africa.

"They have even managed to maintain this very good football en route to the Champions League final."

With the team boasting speed and good passing, strikers Joetex Frimpong and Zoubeir Essafi will hope to add to the five Champions League goals they had between them in the run-up to the final.

The Champions League would be a welcome addition to a trophy cabinet already boasting seven domestic championships, three Tunisian Cups, the 2004 Arab Champions League title as well as the Caf Cup.

For the club founded in 1928, it would also go some way to redressing the balance with domestic rivals Esperance and Club Africain.

While Esperance have 20 league titles to their name and Club Africain 9, both clubs have only ever won the African Champions League once - something Sfaxien can achieve at Rades Stadium next month.