Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena has had his say after his side was once again drawn against Egypt’s Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League group stages.
Sudan’s Al Hilal and Cameroon’s Coton Sport are the other two teams that Downs will meet in Group B.
This will be the fifth consecutive year in which the Brazilians will lock horns with the Club of the Century in this competition.
The two teams met in 2019, 2020 and 2021 in the quarterfinals before they faced each other in the group stages in 2022.
Mokwena says this has become a big fixture in the competition and believes both teams have quality to match each other.
Having changed a coach and introduced new signings, Al Ahly are going to be more difficult to face than in the previous meetings according to the 35-year-old mentor.
“It’s always difficult to travel to Cairo,” Mokwena told Sundowns media.
“We know that Al Ahly are always difficult to play against away from home.
“Not just the environment and the hostility around traveling to Cairo and playing them in their backyard but they have changed coaches and made a lot of improvements in the squad.
“So technically, it’s going be a little bit different. We’ve already seen a couple of their games but now we have to zoom in with a little bit more of a technical focus.
“We have our analysts already working around the clock to gather as much information as we possibly can but of course, over the years this has become a very big fixture.
“Both home and away, it’s going to be very strategic and tactical and we expect that particularly because we know how Al Ahly always seem to play against Sundowns.
“And the personality that they adopt both in the home and the away matches is completely a different team and different approach.”
The Tshwane giants will take on the Cairo-based club on the weekend of 24, 25 February before the repeat takes place on 07 March.
Also Read: Mokwena issues Sundowns’ injury update
