What does the Champions League draw have in store for Sundowns?

The Caf Champions League group stages are done and dusted and all eight quarterfinalists are waiting in bated breath as the clock ticks towards the quarterfinal draw set to take place at the end of this month.

Winners of the four groups, Simba, Esperance, Wydad Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns will be seeded, meaning they cannot be drawn against each other, while the runners-up will be un-seeded and will host the first-leg of the quarterfinals. The guidelines for the draw prevent teams that qualified from the same group to meet in the quarterfinals while teams from the same country can be drawn against each other.

ALSO READ: Pirates breeze past Al Ahly

We take a look at Bafana Ba Style’s potential opponents ahead of the draw.

Kaizer Chiefs

In what would be a maiden all-South African meeting in the Champions League, Sundowns could possibly face their league rivals, Kaizer Chiefs, who finished second in Group C behind Moroccan giants Wydad.

Amakhosi, in all their glorious history, will only be setting foot in the quarterfinals for the first time. If the two sides meet, Sundowns would have the edge as they are more accustomed to the competition while the Glamour Boys are still cutting their teeth with a relatively sketchy and inexperienced side when it comes to the continent.

However, the likes of Khama Billiat, Leonardo Castro and Ramahlwe Mphahlele could come in handy as they are familiar with the competition having represented Downs when they won it in 2016, even though Mphahlele left mid-way through the season to join Chiefs.

Al-Ahly

This match would be a poser as it has a couple of elements that make it an exciting prospect. It is certainly one of those that would give the neutral fan a headache on whether to be patriotic and support Downs or use their patronage to support Pitso Mosimane as a South African-born coach leading the biggest team on the continent.

Ahly, as you would know, have been coached by “Jingles” for a while after he left Downs at the back of eight trophy-laden years. It would be the first time Mosimane faces Sundowns and a match against a former side is always a pressure cooker as he would be expected to have extensive intel on his former side that has been a well-oiled machine across all competition this season.

Sundowns are responsible for leaving the biggest wound on the defending champions as they handed them their biggest defeat in the Champions League when they walloped them 5-0 over two years ago when Mosimane was in charge.

MC Alger

Alger have never gone beyond the group stages since 1980 and they are one of the four teams who have never lifted the holy grail. They have never played Sundowns before but they have set foot on South African shores when they visited the now-defunct Platinum Stars in the 2017 Confederation Cup.

They qualified for the quarterfinals in a group that had powerhouses Esperance of Tunis and Zamalek, who were both tipped to advance but the Algerian side lifted their hands up and going forward, they would prove to be a tough opponent for Masandawana given their desire to go beyond the quarterfinals as the surprise package of the tournament.

Ntokozo Gumede