Downs must beat the odds in a hostile stadium

IT has not quite received the billing, but Mamelodi Sundowns’ second leg Caf Champions League first round tie against Touit Puissant Mazembe in hostile Lubumbashi this afternoon is probably one of the biggest matches on the continent this weekend.

Downs, needing to defend a 10 lead from the first leg, are South Africa’s best hope in African competition in a year when the Confederation of African Football has increased the country’s berths from two to four — one more each in the Champions League and Confederation Cup.

Downs take on a TP Mazembe side in this first-round tie out for revenge, having been eliminated by that year’s finalists, Orlando Pirates, in the second round of the 2013 competition.

Katanga province governor Moise Katumbi’s Mazembe have won the Champions League four times, notably becoming the only team to defend the title in 2010 — the year they reached the Fifa Club World Cup final in the United Arab Emirates.

Sundowns, the special project of mining magnate Patrice Motsepe, have found success beyond this country’s borders harder to come by, reaching the 2001 Champions League final where they lost 4-1 to Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly.

Downs trained on an artificial surface at the Nike Centre in Soweto this week in anticipation of the surface they will encounter at the notoriously hostile 18 000-seater Stade TP Mazembe.

Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane has consulted current Ajax Cape Town boss Roger de Sa on what to expect in Lubumbashi. The Buccaneers were the subject of intimidation before and during the game.

That was a match made famous by the two penalty saves of late Bucs goalkeeper and Bafana Bafana captain Senzo

I expect a different game over there because they are at home

Meyiwa. Pirates had taken a 3-1 advantage to Lubumbashi, where they lost 1-0 to progress 32 on aggregate.

Sundowns, with a slender lead, will have an eye on the officiating this afternoon, hoping that Ethiopian referee Bamlak Tessema Weyesa handles the match more fairly than the Seychelles’ Bernard Camille did two years ago.

“We hope for a fair game, and I think you know what I mean by that. If it is a fair game then we have a chance. I expect a different game over there because they are at home and they have to score,” Sundowns captain Alje Schut said this week.

Mazembe, coached by Patrice Carteron, the Frenchman who impressed at the head of Mali at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in SA, have Chango Kabaso suspended, red-carded in the first half of the first leg. The Brazilians might rue not having made more of an extended period against 10 men other than winger Khama Billiat’s 85thminute winner.

They fared better than Kaizer Chiefs, who were defeated 1-0 in their home-leg match against Raja Casablanca at Moses Mabhida Stadium last month.

Probably the one major factor making Amakhosi’s second-leg match in Morocco this evening anything less than a mission impossible was the Soweto side’s dominance of a Raja team who have been out of sorts in their domestic Botola, slipping to eighth place.

Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter said this week the 1-0 lead might prove a double-edged sword for embattled Raja counterpart Jose Romao. Baxter believes the home crowd at the 67 000-seater Stade Mohamed V will bay for the home side to attack, which would allow Chiefs, a team strong on transition play, opportunities to counterattack.

Chiefs have fullbacks Siboniso Gaxa and Tsepo Masilela back from suspension.