Miguel Cardoso laments lack of domestic fixture relief for CAFCL

Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has once again bemoaned the lack of domestic fixture relief for their CAF Champions League commitments.

This comes after the Brazilians beat Orbit College 2-0 in the Betway Premiership on Tuesday night, thanks to goals from Miguel Reisinho and Iqraam Rayners.

Sundowns ascended to the summit of the log standings with 47 points accumulated from 20 league outings, while Orbit remain 15th with 18 points in 21 games.

Despite the win, Cardoso voiced his displeasure with the lack of aid from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) in preparation for their continental matches.

“I think the day of today [Tuesday] despite that it's at night, the day is a little bit dark. I don't think it's a beautiful day for South African football where we have a team like Mamelodi Sundowns playing a champions League game in three days and being obliged to play today,” said the Downs mentor on PrimeSportsWithMahlatse.

"It's a big disturbance on the preparations of such a match. From now on of course we have to mainly focus on recovering players, not really on the preparations because there's not really big conditions to prepare a match like that.

"But like Pep Guardiola said this week, maybe the PSL thinks that we are very strong and we needed this challenge to be on the level. Well, I'm speaking obviously regarding the need that we have now to focus on what we have ahead.

"And after the second goal our efforts was to manage the players, try to see who could be in danger, avoid an injury so that from now on we collect energy, focus on Friday and prepare that match as best as possible.

Sundowns host Malian champions Stade Malien in the first leg of their quarter-final clash at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Friday night.

Hlayisani Magoro

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Football journalist from South Africa covering African football news, exclusive stories and key events while sharing insights with passionate fans of the game.