Johannesburg — Now that they have had that cloak of domestic invincibility, which they wore with pride, stripped off of them at the weekend, Mamelodi Sundowns will look to prove their mettle on the continental front on Saturday.
The Brazilians will host Al Ahly at Loftus looking to not only get back to winning ways after having their record-setting run of Premiership victories brought to a halt via a 1-1 draw at Stellenbosch FC, but also keen to secure qualification for the Caf Champions League knockout stage.
Victory over the Red Devils will see Rhulani Mokwena’s team move up to 10 points from four Group B matches, a position that will guarantee them passage to the next stage.
It is the kind of motivation that should see the 2016 African champions wanting to make up for the weekend flop at a wet Dannie Craven Stadium where they slipped up against Stellies.
Mokwena said afterwards that the draw was a lesson that will stand them in good stead going forward, given that they had gotten so accustomed to winning that they probably took things for granted.
However, such has been their continental showing that Sundowns cannot be accused of being complacent in the Champions League. And as they prepare to welcome Al Ahly, you can bet they are fully aware of the enormity of the task at hand.
Al Ahly will make the trip cock-a-hoop after they dispatched Cameroon’s Coton Sport with ease in a 3-0 victory in Cairo Saturday. And they will be driven to succeed in the knowledge that defeat to Sundowns could see them face elimination.
The Egyptians are currently third in the group on four points from three matches and trail second-placed Al Hilal by two points. The Sudanese should be top of the table on nine points today as they host whipping boys Coton Sport.
Al Hilal beat the Cameroon outfit 2-1 away and the good money should be on the side from Omdurman completing a double in-front of their own fans.
Not that many pundits would have expected the group to be as tight as it is. For when the draw was made, the general consensus was that Sundowns and Al Ahly would saunter into the knockout stages somewhat unchallenged, given their strength and pedigree.
No one had counted on Al Hilal throwing a spanner in the works by beating the Egyptians 1-0, although the discerning football fan would have seen from their having earlier ran Sundowns close in a 1-0 defeat at Loftus that the Sudanese were not just adding the numbers.
Now Florent Ibenge’s team have their destiny in their own hands. Victory over Coton Sport and a Sundowns win over Al Ahly, will put enormous pressure on the Red Devils.
It is for that reason that Sundowns can expect a fired-up Al Ahly. But having gotten a point out in Cairo in their last outing, Mokwena & Co will trot on to the pitch firmly believing they have the beating of a team that has become a bitter rival in the last five years.
Saturday’s clash will be the 10th meeting between the two sides with the scales evenly balanced in the last nine clashes, with each team boasting three victories and the other three matches having ended in draws.
Forge ahead in this regard and Sundowns will be good for yet another spot in the knockout stage and still in the hunt to adding a second star above their club emblem.
Allow Al Ahly to win and they could well put themselves in a tricky situation, given that they still have a trip to Al Hilal. Their saving grace perhaps is the fact that they still have to host a Coton Sport, who is essentially out of the running.
But why give yourselves unnecessary headaches when victory over Al Ahly will mean the final two matches are merely academic? Surely, Mokwena is a shrewd enough coach to know that much.
IOL Sport