Al Ahly coach Mosimane cautions Sundowns not to do a PSG

Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has cheekily cautioned his ex-club Mamelodi Sundowns that form in the group stages of the Caf Champions League can be deceptive, and what counts is the results teams achieve in the knockout phase.

Sundowns completed their first double over the Egyptian giants and back-to-back Champions League champions at FNB Stadium on Saturday. Peter Shalulile’s first-half goal gave the Brazilians a 1-0 win and qualification to the knockout stages with two matches to spare.

Mosimane said he is confident his team will reach the quarterfinals by beating Sudanese duo Al-Merrikh and Al-Hilal in Ahly’s last two games, both in Cairo.

He said, tongue at least partly in his cheek, that he hopes 2016 champions Sundowns go all the way again, rather than mimicking what Paris St-Germain [PSG] have been doing in the Uefa Champions League.

The French giants have been impressive in the early stages but choked near the end in the last few editions of the European continental competition.

“The group stages will deceive you all the time,” Mosimane cautioned.

“You can win six out of six and Fstay number one but let’s go to the knockout stages. And now don’t go to Morocco [to meet Raja Casablanca or Wydad Athletic] because it [their stadiums] is open now — they have 50,000 fans on the stands.

“Go to Tunisia, they have 50,000 now, they’re open. Unfortunately in Egypt we don’t open that much. We wish that they open.

“Sundowns have the opportunity to win [the cup for the first time] since 2016, it’s been too long, man. They’ve invested a lot of money on players and you can see even in the January transfers, they’ve really, really invested a lot of money — even more than us.

“The pressure is on them. They have to win it. I mean, really, if they can beat Al Ahly home and away, they must just as well win it. If they don’t win it, it’s a PSG story again, akere [right]?

“What’s important is winning that trophy — put it on the table. Then we talk. Now it’s OK, it’s part of football [to lose in the group stages]. You can win all the group matches, but I think you know the story at the end.”

Mosimane said he was confident of qualifying for the quarterfinals, adding that winning the group — now almost guaranteed for Sundowns — holds less significance. 

“We’ve got two games to play,” said Mosimane, whose Ahly contract was extended by two years last week.

“We should stay where we are [in second place in Group A] and to do that we must win our next two games. The two games are in Cairo, and so we’ve got no excuse. We’ve done this before. It’s our life. We are Al Ahly.

“It’s going to be tough, it is tough, but I think the [Al Ahly] emblem tells you that it has been tough for many years.”