Galaxy look for that winning feeling once more against depleted Sundowns

Such has been Mamelodi Sundowns’ dominance in the PSL recently that you can count the number of teams that have recorded victories against them on one hand.

Their only two losses in the DStv Premiership last season came against TS Galaxy and Tshwane neighbours SuperSport United.

The Brazilians will enter Mbombela Stadium on Wednesday to take on the Rockets in the Carling Knockout last 16 knowing very well the Mpumalanga side is capable of causing an upset.

“It’s an exciting draw for us, we all know that Sundowns are the benchmark in our league,” said Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic.

“They are a fantastic team, organised and structured with a fantastic coach. Hopefully, we will win against them again. It will be a long night against them because they don’t have so many weaknesses in their team.

“It takes a lot to plan (for Sundowns), whether they go with two fullbacks up or with one central defender to get into the middle to add more numbers.

“So it’s not easy to plan because our players have to defend and also be offensive. We will spend a lot of time coming up with a better game plan than the last time we beat them. We were disciplined and followed the fullbacks, so we will try again to take the game in our hands to win.”

Bafana’s missing seven

Rulani Mokwena will have to shuffle his pack due to the unavailability of the club’s seven Bafana Bafana internationals. The depleted league champions are playing a juggling act between domestic competitions, the newly-formed African Football League and CAF Champions League.

“We have to make sure every team we line up is the strongest and the best that we can put out on the pitch,” Mokwena said ahead of the tricky encounter.

“We reached the final (of the MTN8) with so many injuries and that’s because we have depth in the team. Compliments must go to the club for the investment in the transfer window to put together such a strong squad.

“They (Galaxy) are a good team, well coached and have some very good players. The good thing is that they will host us at a good stadium with a good pitch and I think it’s probably one of the best fields in the PSL.”