Former Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana has warned Miguel Cardoso and his men of a potential trap in CAF Champions League quarter-final opponents Stade Malien de Bamako.
After navigating a gruelling group stage to secure a knockout spot, Sundowns have been handed a tricky assignment against West African side Stade Malien.
The Brazilians will look to maximise home-ground advantage when they host the first leg on Friday, 13 March, at Loftus Versfeld Stadium. Kick-off is set for 20:00 SAST.
Miguel Cardoso’s men will then face a quick turnaround, travelling to Bamako just seven days later for the high-stakes return leg. The decisive second leg is scheduled for Sunday, 22 March, at 18:00 SAST, where a semi-final berth will be on the line.
Making Stade Malien no pushovers is that they topped Group D to reach the last-eight. It was a group from which they finished two points ahead of continental giants Esperance, who settled for second spot. Angolan champions Petro Atlético and Steve Barker’s Simba SC ended in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Stade Malien’s domestic form sees them in seventh place, eight points adrift of leaders AS Real Bamako. However, with a game in hand, the Bamako-based side will be looking to close that gap before their continental showdown with Sundowns.
STADE MALIEN’S NOTABLE RECORD IN AFRICA
The Malian giants were the 2009 CAF Confederation Cup champions after beating Algerian side ES Setif in the final. They then reached the semi-finals of the same competition in 2012.
The following year, Stade Malien finished as the Confederation Cup runners-up. Interestingly, this season was their first time participating in the group stage of the modern-day Champions League. But previously in 1965, they reached the final of the Champions League, then known as the African Cup of Champions Clubs, in its old format. They also made two appearances in the African Cup of Champions Clubs quarter-finals in 1973 and 1985.
‘DON’T BE DECEIVED’: KEKANA WARNS SUNDOWNS
“In the Champions League, you don’t get to choose your opponents. Once you reach the knockout stages, you have to tackle whoever comes your way—especially when you are a team like Sundowns with big ambitions of winning the competition,” said Kekana.
“The win [Sunowns beating MC Alger] has to give the team that special motivation to say, after winning such a difficult match, we can go out into the knockout stage with the same drive that whoever comes our way, we eliminate.
“It will be a very big challenge again because Stade Malien are a surprise package this year. They have been a big team in this competition, on the continent, but this year, they showed how big they are in terms of participation.
“They are a big team, they have really shown that they really meant business in this edition of the Champions League. I think we can all agree that the teams that are in the knockout stages all deserved to be there.
”Don’t be deceived by the position in their domestic league. If you look at the number of games they have played, their federation gave them that break to concentrate on the Champions League.
“They want to make sure they go as far as the final if that would be possible.”
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