Sundowns Champions League opponents Al Hilal end winless spell
Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League Group B opponents Al Hilal of Sudan on Monday night ended their three-match winless league run.
Sundowns will host the Sudan champions on February 10 during match-day-one of the 2022/2023 CAF Champions League group campaign.
Al Hilal’s countdown to that date saw them beat bottom-of-the-table Al Zoma 2-0 to see the Khartoum giants maintain their respectable lead at the summit of the table.
But it took the last fifteen minutes of the second half for the deadlock to be broken.
Al Hilal midfielder Ahmed Salah headed in the opener, while teenage Senegalese forward Lamine Jarju added the other goal to see them start 2023 with a victory.
Al HILAL BACK ON TRACK
However, it was Al Hilal’s first league win since December 14, when they beat Hilal El Fasher 4-0 at home.
Al Hilal then went on to lose 2-1 to Al Ahli Khartoum, and they posted two successive draws.
The highlight of those draws came on December 29 when they played out to a scoreless stalemate at home in the Khartoum derby against second-placed Al Merreikh.
Al Hilal lead the Sudanese lead on 38 points, five points more than Al Merreikh after 15 and 14 games played, respectively.
Florent Ibenge’s side has two more league fixtures to warm up before heading to South Africa to face Sundowns.
Ibenge joined Al Hilal this season from RS Berkane of Morocco.
The ex-DR Congo head coach has already picked up one piece of silverware with Al Hilal following November’s Sudan Cup triumph.
Meanwhile, Sundowns have dominated Al Hilal in their last continental encounter in the same stage of the competition last season.
Sundowns beat Al Hilal 1-0 at home and 4-2 away during their 2021/2022 CAF Champions League Group A campaign.
Sundowns finished top of Group B but bowed out in the quarterfinals, while Al Hilal made a Group A exit after finishing third.
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