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Mamelodi Sundowns hopes CAF will accede to their request to have their Champions League semifinal against Wydad Athletic in Morocco moved from Friday to Saturday.
The Brazilians find themselves wedged between a punishing domestic and continental programme where they are in the running for honours on both fronts.
The Friday schedule means the Brazilians will face the north African powerhouse just 48 hours after their domestic league fixture against Chippa United on Tuesday.
For their part, the PSL has scheduled the game at Loftus Versfeld Stadium to start at an unusual kickoff time of 3pm to allow Sundowns to leave for Morocco on the same day.
“We play Tuesday; I prefer Saturday as Al Ahly did when they played on Tuesday and asked for the [CAF game] to be on Saturday, which suited us also because we were all playing midweek,” said Pitso Mosimane in reference to the quarterfinal clash his side won 5-0 a fortnight ago in Atteridgeville.
“I don’t know how Al Ahly convinced CAF. But Safa must help us and they have been brilliant,” he said, shortly after his side’s 2-0 defeat to SuperSport United at Loftus on Wednesday.
This was one the three Absa Premiership games the defending champions had to play in a matter of a few days before their epic meeting with the all-familiar foe Wydad.
Mosimane is hoping his side will carry some fresh legs to Morocco.
“It’s the same yellow and red jersey. We are tired of each other,” said Mosimane in jest. “If you can ask their coach [Faouzi Benzarti] about Sundowns, he knows every player, every movement and so do we.
“It’s a game you say ‘what’s new’?”
It will be the third season in a row that the two sides have met each other in the premier continental club competition.
“I think what’s new in this game is that it’s the first time we play them away [in the first leg]. All the time we go there, they put pressure on us. They play a little bit reactionary because they have to press us and fight for the win because they have lost here. So maybe now let’s see if they can play the same way because it’s a win-at-all-cost [game].”
Asked if playing the first leg away would give Sundowns an advantage, Mosimane said: “Probably, emotionally it’s going to be a little bit of a different game but for us, we need to break the ice. We need not to concede and score away.”
The 54-year-old from Kagiso on the West Rand has observed some common trends between Sundowns and the north African powerhouses.
He pointed out that Wydad, Espérance and Al Ahly “don’t win a lot” when they play away from home.
“It’s like us, we have not won at Wydad. It’s a reference and you can’t argue with that.”
Mosimane cited the big crowds in north Africa as the driving forces behind the likes of Wyad.
“The crowds drive the teams. Maybe when they play away there is not much of that drive. That’s why they are not really convincing away.
I can say the same thing about us. Our crowd drives us but those guys make more noise.”
The 2016 African Coach of the Year also highlighted why the Champions League was difficult for South African teams. “We can win it but it’s not about the play [or] the tactics, it’s more than that. It’s the stress, the pressure, the travelling and the mentality but it’s all part of the game. You need to say ‘let’s go for it’.”
Mosimane believes his side – who failed to progress beyond the group stage last season – stands a good chance of going all the way this time around and even recalled how they clinched it in 2016. “We have to give our best and also believe.
“If Ajax [Amsterdam] can win in Juventus and in Madrid [in the Uefa Champions league] we have to believe we can do it.
“When we won the Champions League, we won in ES Sétif [in Algeria], in Zamalek [Egypt] and we won in AS Vita [Democratic Republic of Congo].
“I tell the guys maybe it’s time to win once away.”
In addition to their 1-0 loss to Al Ahly in Alexandria last weekend, Sundowns have not won any of their group stage fixtures away from home this season.
They lost 2-1 to Lobi Stars in Nigeria; 1-0 to Wydad in Rabat and yielded a goalless draw against Asec Mimosas in the Ivory Coast.
But Mosimane warned: “I don’t think there is any team in Africa that will say ‘we’ll win in Pretoria’, even Espérance knows it’s tough here.
“For me, if you are in the semifinal, you might as well go to the final.”
Midfielder Themba Zwane has been one of Downs consistent performers in the prestige CAF club tourney.
He netted a brace in Downs’ 2-1 win over Wydad in Pretoria in January and he is the tournament’s second-leading scorer, jointly on six goals with Meddie Kagere of Tanzania’s Simba FC, both one goal shy of leader Moataz Al-Mehdi of Libyan side Al-Nasr.
. Defending champions Espérance will face TP Mazembe in Tunis on Saturday in the other semifinal.
The return legs have been pencilled in for May 4 and Sundowns will host Wydad at Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
