Al Ahly threw away a two-goal lead in a 4-2 extra-time loss to Mexican side Pachuca on Saturday while Adelaide went down 1-0 to Japan's Gamba Osaka in a rematch of the Asian Champions League final a day later to leave the two teams with nothing more to play for than position - and an extra US$500,000 purse prizemoney.

Fifth place picks up $1.5m while sixth makes do with $1m.

Missing out on the semi-finals was especially galling for the Egyptian club, who had entertained thoughts of improving on their third-place finish of two years ago especially after going 2-0 up at half-time against Pachuca with a Fausto Pinto own goal and a Flavio strike.

But a brace by Christian Gimenez and a goal each by Luis Montes and Damian Alvarez saw the Mexicans advance to meet Copa Libertadores champions Liga Deportivo Universitaria de Quito of Ecuador while the African champions had to settle for a second appearance in four years in the fifth-place match.

Playmaker Mohamed Aboutrika, a veteran of all three of Al Ahly's Club World Cup campaigns, has had difficulty coming to terms with the loss.

"As a player, you basically have to deal with all kinds of results, but we're a top team, and losing this match after going 2-0 up was very painful indeed," said Aboutrika, who scored three goals in the 2006 competition.

"Being the top scorer or winning any kind of individual award doesn't bother me. All that matters to me is the team.

"We have to go out there and prove we're a quality team. We need to recover from the defeat to Pachuca as quickly as possible, so we're determined to win our next match and leave behind a good impression."

Al Ahly will be hoping for better fortune against Adelaide having lost 2-1 to another Australian side, Sydney FC, in the fifth-place match in 2005.

Their prospects will be aided by the injury concerns of the A-League leaders, who suffered their third defeat in just over a month against Gamba thanks to Yasuhito Endo's first-half winner.

With the domestic fixtures piling up, Adelaide coach Aurelio Vidmar may have an eye on resting some of his first-teamers for the Al Ahly clash.

"We still have to have a look at the team we're going to play because we've got some injury concerns, so at this point of time it is probably not going to be our strongest team," said Vidmar

"But in saying that whoever goes out there tomorrow will have to perform to a very good level to get the win.

"Travis Dodd, Cassio, Fabian Barbiero and Sasa Ognenovski could all be in doubt. They're probably the ones with the most concern and we're in a situation where we need to weigh up what's the most important, this game which is important but also, we've still got a third of our A-League season to play.

"It has been a great experience for us for our first time in this tournament and it hasn't been an easy road getting here so I wouldn't call it a disappointment if we get beaten tomorrow.

"I would call it a great adventure, a great experience and we look forward to one day coming back here again."