{"id":2170,"date":"2021-01-11T19:41:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-11T19:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=2170"},"modified":"2021-01-11T17:25:13","modified_gmt":"2021-01-11T17:25:13","slug":"tricky-trips-up-north-for-mamelodi-sundowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tricky-trips-up-north-for-mamelodi-sundowns","title":{"rendered":"Tricky trips up north for Mamelodi Sundowns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>JOHANNESBURG – Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says their Champions League group stage opponents will be a \u201ctricky affair\u201d, while he has also lauded the work put in by his team in their domestic campaign.<\/p>\n

For the seventh successive season since returning to the pinnacle of South African football, the Brazilians will play in the group stage of the Pan-African competition \u2013 a tournament they won five years ago.<\/p>\n

Sundowns\u2019 route to the group stage was seamless, beating Jwaneng Galaxy 5-1 on aggregate in their two-legged qualifier. This was an impressive feat for the three wise men \u2013 coaches Mngqithi, Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela.<\/p>\n

However, the trio will know that their job is cut out for them as they will have to book their spot in the quarter-finals at the expense of Al Hilal of Sudan, TP Mazembe of the<\/p>\n

Democratic Republic of Congo and CR Belouizdad of Algeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quite tricky. At this stage of the Champions League, you can expect anything,\u201d Mngqithi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut one would have probably liked to have direct flights, which is something we might not get. Lubumbashi (in the DRC) doesn\u2019t have direct flights. In terms of opponents, it\u2019s a tricky affair.\u201d<\/p>\n

After finishing second in the Sudanese Premiership last season, Mngqithi believes Al Hilal will pose the biggest threat in their group stage campaign, while he is also vigilant of usual suspects TP Mazembe and new kids on the blocks CR Belouizdad.<\/p>\n

\u201cAl Hilal at this stage and in my mind, is one team that is looking a little bit stronger,\u201d Mngqithi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe travelling to that side is not always the easiest. Let\u2019s just hope that in our first match when we play them at home, we\u2019ll get maximum points.<\/p>\n

\u201cMazembe is always a tricky affair. We are fortunate that the supporters are not coming to the stadium; that environment can look hostile for youngsters and new players.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelouizdad are new kids on the blocks that we have to treat (them) very carefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mngqithi might be wary of the impact their travelling arrangements in the continental showpiece will have on their campaign, but their short trip from Chloorkop to Polokwane on Saturday was fruitful.<\/p>\n

They beat Baroka FC 2-0 to consolidate their unbeaten start to the DStv Premiership.<\/p>\n

Sundowns are at the summit of the league standings with 24 points thanks to seven wins and three draws in 10 matches.<\/p>\n

Having reached their target of 12 points after every five matches, Mngqithi is pleased with the hard work that has been put in by everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur planning for the season was that we wanted to bag 12 points in every five matches,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst circle, we got 13 points and in the second we got 11. We dropped one point in the second. But we got exactly what we wanted to achieve.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is very happy with the group. The coaches, players, analysts and everyone around the team has worked very hard. Our conditioning department has kept us strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut this is just the beginning. We have a long way to go. We have to stay focused.\u201d<\/p>\n

IOL Sport<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. JOHANNESBURG – Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says their Champions League group stage opponents will be a \u201ctricky affair\u201d, while he has also lauded the work put in by his team in their domestic campaign. For the seventh successive season since returning to the pinnacle of South African football, the Brazilians will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":2169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-2170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nTricky trips up north for Mamelodi Sundowns - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"JOHANNESBURG - Mamelodi Sundowns coach Manqoba Mngqithi says their Champions League group stage opponents will be a \u201ctri ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/tricky-trips-up-north-for-mamelodi-sundowns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tricky trips up north for Mamelodi Sundowns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JOHANNESBURG - 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