Failing to win the Champions League won’t be a train smash, says Manqoba Mngqithi

Johannesburg — Mamelodi Sundowns’ desire to claim another CAF Champions League crown remains intact. But that they've recently made signings to help them in that regard, doesn’t mean they will have sleepless nights if they come short this term.

After winning the last four league titles in succession, the Brazilians have proven to be no match for their local rivals. And that’s why they’ve relatively set their sights on conquering the continent again, having achieved that feat in 2016.

But with African being a juggle, where only the fittest survive, Sundowns once again raided the market in January, locally and abroad. At home, they tied down the most prized player Teboho Mokoena and the experienced Surprise Ralani.

And there was business for them in South America once more as they signed Bolivian international Erwin Saavedra. All three players were registered for African football with the hope that they’ll help the team to reach the ‘Promised Land’.

But co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi is not naïve, though, thinking that they’ll just claim the continental since they’ve made these new acquisitions. Instead, he emphasised the importance of going pound-for-pound with their continental rivals.

“We are looking at our competitors in the Champions League and we are trying the best we can to get the team to that level. We want to make sure that we are at a state where we compete at almost the same level as them,” he said.

“We all have one mentality which is to win the Champions League. All these years, even when we didn’t win it, our plan was to win it. That’s why we are fighting to be in it every season. Signing is always influenced by trying to be better.

“We are hoping to get there. I would not regard not winning the Champions League