A meeting between the top two Clubs in Africa is coming up when Mamelodi Sundowns visit Al Ahly for a return leg tie in the CAF Champions League semifinal on Friday night at the Cairo International Stadium.
This comes after a goalless draw in the highly contested first leg, which took place at Loftus Versfeld a week ago. Heading to the decider in Egypt, Masandawana will be looking not only to score goals but to win the match and advance to the final, which will be only their second time reaching it in the Champions League.
Looking ahead to what is anticipated as a mouthwatering clash, Downs’ defender, Divine Lunga, admitted it will be a difficult encounter that will require his side to leave everything on the pitch if they want to advance to the final round.
“I think it’s not going to be an easy game, just like when we played in Pretoria, but we are going to put maximum effort so that we can win the game. We don’t want to go to the penalties because penalties are like a game of gambling. So, we will need to put our A-game so that we can manage to score and win the game in 90 minutes,” he said.
When asked about the 75,000 capacity stadium they will be battling in for a seat in the final, Lunga stated that playing in a full capacity stadium will not be a first for the team, and it will be a non-factor.
“Playing in big stadiums will not be new for us, moreover, we have several players who are exposed to such crowds in their respective national teams. It’s going to be a normal game for us, and the huge crowd will not affect us in any way.”
To conclude, his teammate, Tashreeq Matthews, echoed Lunga’s sentiments, stating this encounter is a must-win and they will do whatever it takes to win. He said, “It’s going to be a physical game, and we will have to do what we have to do to try and get the three points. In the first leg, Al Ahly
defended very well and made good runs, so we will need to cut their flow very early in the game to get what we want out of this game, which is a positive result.”
Mamelodi Sundowns will clash against Al Ahly on Friday night at the Cairo International Stadium. Kick-off has been scheduled for 19H00, live on SuperSport TV and SABC Sport.
There is no need to defend,we are a big team and must answer fire with fire.Tonight it is all or nothing.I hate a coach who complains about other teams’ style of play like what our coach is saying when asked about the team’s lack of goals.As a coach you are hired to come with a plan under different circumstances,teams have their own style of play,you can’t dictate how other teams should play when play against you.It is like when you are driving a car and faced with an accident,you can’t put your hands on the head do nothing and hope that God will save you,you must do everything in you power to avoid that accident the God will assist you. Good luck tonight even though we are hopeless because how the coach plays the team.Since 1st March 2025 we played nine games and scored more than a single goal once against Amazulu and that is a recipe for disaster and shows the team is not in good hands,if we were by now the challenge should have been addressed.
Congratulations to the players, coach, technical team and the entire Masandawana for reaching the CCL final, I repeat with Cardoso, we have a good structure and defensive organisation in our play and we will win the CCL. We need to scout two tall and speedy center backs for this coach and we will win everything.That goal by Ahly , was because Lebusa was not speedy enough to close the space and Taher, but we cant blame him because we play him knowing tha he lacks that natural ability od speed and no- one has at center back, so the coach does not have obtions there.We played good football before tiki taka, but we were knocked out each time in the CCL, and now pirates is still falling into to trap ,and were are they now.At this level ,big boys score one goal and close shop, when you lead you play defensive football, you dont open yourself at the back, nevertheless, they are learning.KBY