Rulani to rotate exhausted Sundowns squad for Birds, Esperance clashes

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena will rotate his squad as their relentless programme continues against Moroka Swallows in the DStv Premiership on Monday night before their Caf Champions League semifinal first leg clash against Esperance de Tunis on Saturday.

Sundowns face a gruelling schedule as they participate in a staggering six competitions in 2023-2024 and have advanced far in many of them. 

Downs lost on penalties to Orlando Pirates in the MTN8 final in October. The Brazilians won the inaugural African Football League in November.

In the Nedbank Cup they are through to the semifinals but the extent of their fatigue was shown by having to go to penalties to beat first division University of Pretoria FC in Friday's quarterfinal.

Sundowns lead the DStv Premiership and played matches across competitions against Richards Bay, Young Africans (in their Champions League quarter second leg), Cape Town Spurs and Tuks in the past two weeks.

Sundowns meet the Birds at Dobsonville Stadium on Monday night (7.30pm), then travel to Tunis for their clash against Esperance at Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi. 

Mokwena admitted the schedule is taking its toll on his players. While he wants them to spend time together on the pitch, sometimes it’s impossible. He praised their ability to still get results under such conditions.

“We have to build chemistry, fluidity, cohesion and the only way you do that is on the pitch,” he said.

“I want them to play more together. I’m not sure what we will do on Monday.

“We have to take it one day at a time. They must be exhausted because I’m exhausted.

“The most important thing now is recovery, regeneration. We have to give a lot of compliments to my staff, the people behind the scenes working hard to keep the players at a good level.

“We ran [against Tuks] and I like this feeling where if I look at the players' eyes they want more and they want to push.

“If you say of the game [last week against last-place] Cape Town Spurs [Downs won 1-0], it reminds me of the Stellenbosch game last season where we lost [2-1 in the Nedbank Cup in mid-April 2023 to end an unbeaten run]. And the other one we drew 1-1 at the same pitch [against Stellies in the league two weeks later] with the penalty we conceded late in the game.

“These types of games last season we would lose or draw, we would give up. Now we dig deep, we support each other and though we make it difficult, I’m proud of the players, bench and the team.

“Now we have to recover and prepare for this game against a good team on a difficult pitch. I watched a lot of Swallows' matches this season and I know what to expect.”

A win against Swallows will see Sundowns increase their points tally to 55, meaning they would lead second-place Stellenbosch by 16 points with a game in hand.

This week's fixtures

Monday: Moroka Swallows vs Mamelodi Sundowns, Dobsonville Stadium (7.30pm)

Wednesday: SuperSport United vs Polokwane City, Lucas Moripe Stadium (7.30pm); Sekhukhune United vs Stellenbosch FC, Peter Mokaba Stadium (7.30pm)

Saturday: Lamontville Golden Arrows vs Royal AM, Mpumalanga Stadium (3pm); Sekhukhune United vs Cape Town Spurs, Peter Mokaba Stadium (5pm); Orlando Pirates vs AmaZulu, Orlando Stadium (5.30pm); SuperSport United vs Chippa United, Lucas Moripe Stadium (8pm)

Sunday: Richards Bay vs Kaizer Chiefs, King Zwelithini Stadium (3pm); Polokwane City vs Cape Town City, Old Peter Mokaba Stadium (3pm); TS Galaxy vs Stellenbosch FC, Mbombela Stadium (5.30pm)

Caf Champions League semifinal, first leg

Saturday: Esperance de Tunis vs Mamelodi Sundowns, Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi, Tunis (9pm)