Mamelodi Sundowns will take on Stellenbosch FC in a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal on Saturday, 18:00pm, at Athlone Stadium.
While Sundowns have a date on Wednesday 12 April against Lamontville Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium, it is the weekend's encounter that holds much significance to them.
The Brazilians are the Nedbank Cup defending champions, having won it last season against Marumo Gallants in the final.
Sundowns have already lost one of their titles, the MTN8, which now belongs to Orlando Pirates. They would love nothing more than beating Stellenbosch on Saturday to increase their chances of winning a treble again this season, with the Caf Champions League also still on offer.
But Sundowns first team coach, Steve Komphela, has no illusions about the difficulties that lie ahead as they prepare for Stellies.
The last time the two sides met, Sundowns 15 match winning streak was brought to an abrupt end by a determined Stellenbosch.
"It was a tough one and we knew as we went there that it was not going to be easy knowing what they are capable of and testimony of that is what happened [against TS Galaxy], make no mistake, Galaxy are a hell of a good team, defensively they are solid but getting six past their defence, says a lot," said Komphela as quoted by iDiski Times.
https://www.idiskitimes.co.za/featured/komphela-wary-of-stellenbosch-threat/
"But we’ll go to Cape Town and unfortunately for us, our brief and responsibility has always remained the same, we have to defend [the title]."
In a match where the only thing that went Sundowns' way was ball possession, which they controlled 66% of, Stellenbosh had the better of goal attempts, with 15 in total, compared to Sundowns' 14. Out the of the 15 attempts, Stellies managed to put seven on target, while Downs had five.
More of the same can be expected from Steve Barker's side on Saturday, and Komphela expects it too.
"We had a small discussion with Stevie before the previous one, and one of the discussion lines were upfront, their movement on top is quite fascinating and what happened [six goals against Galaxy] is not a surprise to us because it is clear what they do," he added.
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"And based on that, we went to Cape Town, aware of that, we still suffered a setback, so we’ll have to go there, they keep doing this and they do it so well, so we have to respect it."
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