This is one of the biggest match ups in this season’s CAF Champions League with the 2016 champions Mamelodi Sundowns going head-to-head with the runners up of 2017 and 2018, Al Ahly.
Loftus Versfeld Stadium will come alive as the Red Devils of Egypt visit the Brazilians of Mamelodi. Who will have the last laugh?
CAF Champions League, Quarter-Final
Saturday 6 April
Loftus Versfeld Stadium
15:00
To Win
Mamelodi Sundowns 1/1
Draw 51/20
Al Ahly 5/2
Mamelodi Sundowns
This is a very interesting encounter for the hosts as it comes five days after a gigantic top of the domestic table clash against Orlando Pirates. It shall be very interesting to see how the technical team deal with the workload of these high-profile games.
Sundowns’ home form was superb in the group stages where they won all three encounters against Lobi Stars, Wydad Casablanca and ASEC Mimosas. Pitso Mosimane’s men, however, failed to win against all of those teams away from home, collecting one point in the process. That shows how experienced they are in this competition as they realise the importance of winning your home games.
Players like Denis Onyango, Hlompho Kekana and Themba Zwane were heavily involved in their national teams in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and that must have kept them fit for the upcoming encounters. Gaston Sirino didn’t feature on Monday night against Orlando Pirates as he was serving suspension and he could either be fresh or rusty for this clash.
Al Ahly
The Red Devils have reached the last two CAF Champions League finals and they are the most successful team in the competition with eight titles to their name, compared to Sundowns’ one. The last time these sides met was in the 2007 edition where the mighty Egyptian side won 2-0 in Cairo and got a 2-2 draw in Mzansi.
Despite convincingly winning all their home games in the group stage, The Club of the Century only collected one out of a possible nine points on the road. They are the defending champions of the Egyptian Premier League and they currently lie second with two points separating them from top-placed Zamalek, who they played to a goalless draw this past weekend in a top of the table clash.
Before jetting off to South Africa, Martin Lasarte’s men do battle with seventh-placed Al Ittihad Alexandria which could work against them. They come up against their former player, Phakamani Mahlambi, who would be looking to prove a point after gaining sporadic game time in the Cairo-based club before returning to South Africa to join the Yellow Nation.
Verdict: Mamelodi Sundowns Win (1/1)
Sundowns know how to grind out matches and they will be looking to do so against the most dangerous team in the continent. On the flip side, Al Ahly lost two and drew one of their three away games in the group stages. The last time they visited Sundowns, the teams drew 2-2. This could go either way with the most successful team facing one of the most recent champions who are good at home and I think Mosimane’s men will be triumphant.
Benedict Ngwenya
