Daunting match schedule will stretch Downs

The extension of the Premier Soccer League season by three weeks to the end of June has brought relief to an overcrowded fixture list in the coming months, but it still leaves Mamelodi Sundowns with a daunting schedule that will stretch the limits of their expensively assembled squad. Sundowns have been a victim of their own success this season and now will have to play as many as 34 matches in 20 weeks between now and the end of the domestic season on June 24. And what’s more‚ they could still have two more games after that if they make the pool stages of the African Champions League in the defence of their title‚ which will likely take them to within just a couple of weeks of the 2017-18 PSL season. Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane hated to use fatigue as an excuse for the team last season‚ but come the middle of this year it could be the word that occupies his mind most. Sundowns still have 21 matches to complete the Premiership season‚ starting with an away trip to Bloemfontein Celtic on February 8. It could be the biggest factor in determining if they are to lift the title this year as the games come thick and fast.

The African champions will also have immediate thoughts on the African Super Cup‚ a match they will play against DR Congo champions TP Mazembe in Pretoria on February 18. The once-off match is contested by the two teams that won the African Champions League and the African Confederation Cup in 2016. Sundowns will also have the potential for five more games in the Nedbank Cup tournament that starts in early March‚ as Mosimane goes in search of more silverware and to regain a title the Brazilians last won in 2015. Mercifully‚ they have been given a bye through the preliminary round of the Champions League. This means they start their defence of the continental title with a two-legged first round match-up in March against the winner of the opening round tie between Uganda’s KCCA and Primeiro do Augusto from Angola. If they win that game they will go straight into the group stages‚ which start in May, with four rounds of pool phase games to be played before the South African season ends. If they lose at that stage they will go into the playoff round for the group stages of the Confederation Cup.