Pitso well aware of all the permutations

Mamelodi Sundowns and Democratic Republic of Congo giants TP Mazembe are the only teams that have booked spots in the quarterfinals of the Caf Champions League with two games to spare, but Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane (below) is preoccupied with finishing at the top of Group C to avoid facing the so-called big guns in the last eight.

Masandawana are currently at the summit of their group ahead of rivals Wydad Casablanca and if they win their game against Petro de Luanda in the Angolan capital tomorrow, the Brazilians are guaranteed a top-spot finish, which is why “Jingles” wants to wrap it before they host the Moroccans in the final group stage match in Pretoria at the end of this month.

“We want to win because we want to qualify as the leaders of the group and we don’t want to be fighting for that in the last game. So, everybody has to do what they need to do for themselves. You don’t want to play Wydad when you are looking for a win in the last game,” said Mosimane.

The Sundowns coach has worked out all of the permutations and knows that his side has to collect all three points for a safe landing while those three points against Petro would do a huge favour to Wydad.

“Petro still have a lifeline because they are on two points and if they win against us they go to five points and if they win their last game against USM Algers they can go to eight points. But then it means Wydad must not win at all and Wydad will win, trust me. They will never leave it to the last minute because they know that they can’t come to Pretoria and say they are going to win. How will they win? They have never won in Pretoria.

“If they win they eliminate USMA and if we win we eliminate Petro, so it can end up being an official friendly game between us and Wydad in the end but we will be top of the log. Wydad want us to win against Petro because they are a threat to them and mathematically Petro can still make it. Wydad are wishing us luck to win so that they stay in the tournament.”