‘Nothing heals Champions League failure’ — Sundowns skipper Onyango

Mamelodi Sundowns captain and goalkeeper Dennis Onyango says the club is still hurting from their Caf Champions League failure, despite huge domestic success.

Saturday's 2-1 Nedbank Cup final victory against Marumo Gallants at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg saw Sundowns complete a clean sweep of trophies in the Premier Soccer League (PSL).

Onyango and his teammates won the DStv Premiership, MTN8 and Nedbank Cup.

Sundowns were knocked out of the Champions League by Petro de Luanda of Angola in the quarterfinals.

Having dominated the PSL for years, Sundowns’ bosses now most desire a second Champions League title to add to the 2016 success under former coach Pitso Mosimane.

“Nothing heals Champions League wounds, because it’s a bigger stage and a bigger trophy,” Onyango said.

“Of course we have to give our best and finish the season on a high despite being knocked out in a very dramatic way with VAR and all those things, but that’s football. The most important thing for us was to stay focused on the league.”

Onyango said he was impressed with how Sundowns put aside their continental disappointment to clinically close out their domestic treble.

“I think we have been a very good, hard working team. There were a few challenges here and there, but our main target was to win everything on the table and we came short with one trophy,” Onyango said.

“But everyone in the team gave their best. The most important one was the league and we got it. It gave us momentum to come to the final of the Nedbank Cup and we got that as well, which is fantastic.

“I think the guys did a good job winning all the trophies that are available in the PSL — it's been a great season.

“We could have done better in the Champions League by probably going one or two steps better. Nonetheless I’m happy with the guys, they have done their best and the push from the management and technical staff has been fantastic because without them we couldn’t have made it this far.”

As Premiership champions, Sundowns will return to the Champions League next season and their coaches will face pressure to do better.