Mamelodi Sundowns mentor Rulani Mokwena has revealed he is still hurting at last season's elimination from the CAF Champions League as his side aim to clinch multiple titles this campaign.
The Brazilians suffered a devastating exit in the prestigious continental competition last season after being held to a 2-2 draw in the second leg at home against the Botola league giants Wydad Casablanca.
Mokwena’s side played to a goalless draw away from home, however, the away goal rule goal saw Sundowns crashing out of the tournament when defender Mthobi Mvala scored an own goal in the 83rd minute to give the away side a late equaliser.
The reigning DStv Premiership champions are among the favorites to lift this season’s CAF Champions League as they next face Esperance of Tunisia in a two-leg semi-final clash.
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“Neo Maema, at the beginning of the season said my talks are very painful because I still have a lot of pain on how we lost the Champions League last season,” said Mokwena.
“Even though the pain comes with a good sense of motivation. But I think the biggest lesson I learned was the importance of the away goals in the Champions League.
“I said to myself right from the beginning (this season) that if we are to lose a tie it must not be because we’ve conceded goals.
“That is one of the things I worked very hard with the technical team and the coaches to try and improve our side.
“You can just imagine being the best team on the continent last season, not having lost a game, but then you exit a Champions League which is a playground we want to be part of.”
Sundowns will face off against ES Tunis away from home in the first leg in Tunisia on 20 April before the return leg on 26 April.
Kick-off is at 21:00.
Mokwena further detailed how his side will use previous experiences such as those disappointing losses as learning experiences moving forward.
“We want to be consistently featuring in the semi-finals, quarter-finals but if you neglect the law of the game.
“At this time unlike the UEFA Champions League, Sundowns cannot afford to be home in the Champions League and concede three goals.
“It’s not possible because of the away goals rule and I think that is why one of the biggest factors in terms of us is being compact at the back.
“We try to keep clean sheets, and not conceding goals is perhaps how we lost the Champions League last season and we know we can’t change the laws of the game.
“But we can change how we perform and we still want to play the Sundowns way, but we have to continue with what we are doing and one of the big aspects is conceding goals,” he concluded.
Masandwana will face their neighbors, the University of Pretoria in the Nedbank Cup last eight on Friday night as they will be hoping to book themselves a spot in the semi-finals.
Kick-off is at 19:00.
🚨𝙂 𝘼 𝙈 𝙀 𝘿 𝘼 𝙔🚨
— Mamelodi Sundowns FC (@Masandawana) April 12, 2024
🆚 University of Pretoria
⏰ 19H00
🏟 Lucas Moripe Stadium
📺 SS 202#Sundowns #NedbankCup pic.twitter.com/r2V3jwM994
