Gallants ready to defuse potent Sundowns' hunt for treble glory

Marumo Gallants are the ultimate underdogs and will again come up against Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup.

But this time, it will be in the final.

Last season, Gallants took the Brazilians to a penalty shootout in the semi-final and snatched a 6-5 victory to take on Chippa United in the final, which they won.

However, at the time, Gallants were known as Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) before new ownership, and a renaming took place ahead of the current season.

Sundowns have already won the MTN8 and the DStv Premiership crown but are one trophy short of completing the domestic treble.

The Brazilians have been potent all season, but Gallants will be relying on their cup history to kick in again on Saturday, 28 May, at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

But Gallants head coach Dan Malesela has no desire for mind games as he does not deny Sundowns’ professionalism to the beautiful game.

"Beating the number one team in the country now? Everybody can argue but they are – they won the league before the league even ended," said the Gallants mentor.

"It takes a good team to do that; it takes a magnificent team to be able to win the league way before the league ends.

"Even yesterday (Monday), they didn't say 'we are champions, let it go'. We are dealing with a team that is so professional."

Kickoff is at 18:00.