This, after Sundowns cemented their place in the CAF Champions League quarterfinals over the weekend with a 1-0 win over Congolese giants TP Mazembe.
Masandawana last met The Rockets in 2023 at the Carling Knockout Cup where they were knocked out in the first round by the Mpumalanga-based side. Downs’ skipper, Mosa Lebusa said his side anticipate a demanding encounter away from home. He further stated that they are in high spirits, which has made training enjoyable, following their victory last weekend in the CAF Champions League.
“The preparations are going very well. We just came from a Champions League game where we won so the morale is very good. We take it one game at a time and we not trying to get ahead of ourselves. We are aware that they are not going to make it easy for us and we know we are not entitled to win but we just have to work hard, score goals and make sure we keep a clean sheet. That’s the only way we’ll win the game,” he stated.
“I expect the encounter to be fireworks. The last we played against them they knocked us out of the Carling Knockout Cup and it wasn’t pleasant. In this Club we try to play every final of every competition we participate in but it wasn’t possible against them. From our side we have to give everything, especially because it’s a league game,” he continued.
The Brazilians have hit some remarkable form having not lost 40 games in the topflight. Heading to this game, they will be looking to extend their unbeaten run in the DStv Premiership and kill the title chase while it’s still early, which they are aware won’t be easy to do against a resilient TS Galaxy side.
“I think as a collective they play very well, their recent form shows that. Even their log standings show that they are a very good team and are capable of scoring goals. We are however focusing more on ourselves and we are trying to be better than we were in our previous game. We are expecting them to come at us and make sure that they try to end our dominance while we are trying to wrap up the league as soon as possible, so winning is important for the team but we are expecting a tough game,” Lebusa said.
Lebusa concluded by encouraging the Masandawana supporters to come and support them. He also assured them that they will be beaming with joy, come end of the match. He said: “we’d like to urge the Yellow Nation to come support us and watch the beautiful football. We promise that we will make them happy and at the end of the game they will be celebrating.”