This past Saturday, Rualni Mokwena secured his first Caf Champions League win as sole head coach of Mamelodi Sundowns, defeating Al-Hilal with a 1-0 victory.
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Despite their dominance in the DStv Premiership, Mokwena’s toughest challenge is anticipated to come in the Champions League.
Mokwena agrees that the Champions League will not be a walk in the park like the Premiership where Downs have opened a 23-point gap between them and SuperSport United.
“This game should be difficult for our team and the more difficult it is, the better for us because it helps us grow. This first set of three points is a step to help us qualify. What this win means is that we can compete and we have to show consistency because it is possible can score more,” said Mokwena.
Read more: Sundowns kicked off their CL group stage campaign with a win over Hilal
Last season Masandawana had a perfect group stage campaign where they collected a total of 16 points. The mandate remains unchanged this season, except, they want to go beyond the quarter-finals this time.
“The target is to go to 10 points quickly. History tells us that the average points are the most in the group of four so if we reach 10 points, it guarantees you a place in the knockout. Three points regardless of the scorline is very important and the boys are very good and we deserved the three points,” said Mokwena.
Ibenge’s Champions League dream is still alive
His counterpart, Florent Ibenge, still harbors aspirations of progressing to the knockout stages despite a slow start. The next match is against the record holders, Al-Ahly.
Ibenge has never won this competition as his best record is a runner-up position with AS Vita in 2014.
“We believe we can still go through. We lost the battle against Sundowns but we didn’t fight. We have five games and the fact that we are in the Champions League, we are not here by chance, but we have something to do.
“We know we are underdogs because in this group, Sundowns and Al-Ahly are favorites but we have to fight for points in every game we play,” Ibenge said.