Stade Malien tough quarter foes, but Sundowns seem to have hit form at the right time 

Stade Malien will provide a stiff test for Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2025-26 Caf Champions League quarterfinals, the first leg of which is at Loftus Versfeld on Friday.

The famous Malian outfit topped a tough Group D with 11 points, ahead of Espérance de Tunis (nine points), Petro de Luanda (six) and Simba (five). Cameroonian coach Mauril Mesack Njoya has been nicknamed “the Sorcerer” at the club for a turnaround that included orchestrating the group run of three wins, two draws and one defeat.

Stade have a proud continental record, going back to being losing finalists in the first edition of the Champions League’s predecessor, the African Cup of Champions Clubs, losing 2-1 to Cameroon’s Oryx Douala in 1964-65. This is their third quarterfinal appearance. They won the 2009 Confederation Cup. Striker Taddeus Nkeng scored two goals in the group stage, playmaker Mamdou Traore has two in the competition and the pair should be a threat upfront.

Sundowns battled through Group C, needing a final-day 2-0 win against MC Alger to progress as runners-up to Sudan’s Al-Hilal. It was one of their less convincing round robin phases since winning the Champions League in 2016, the victory that set off their near-decade of knockout-phase appearances, including last season’s first return to the final (losing 3-2 on aggregate to Egypt’s Pyramids FC) since lifting the trophy nine years ago.

Sundowns fans will take much hope for the remainder of this Champions League campaign that since, and spurred by, the decisive group stage win against Alger, their team’s form has improved dramatically.

Downs coach Miguel Cardoso has shown himself astute at reaching Champions League finals. He did so with Espérance in 2023-24, beating Sundowns in the semis and losing 1-0 on aggregate there against Al Ahly. He took the Brazilians there the next year. The Portuguese knows his way around the knockout stage.

He has appeared relieved Downs have found their stride again from their patchy first half of 2025-26. The Alger win was followed by a big Betway Premiership victory against Orlando Pirates that reeled the gap from the leaders to three points, when a defeat would have meant nine. Those two wins became six in a row for Downs, as they have drawn level on 44 points with Bucs at the top of the league, making the Brazilians far more confident of extending their eight successive titles — the last under Cardoso — to nine.

The arrival of Portuguese midfielder Nuno Santos and monster Colombian striker Brayan León have played a big part restoring impetus and bringing back the star quality that was diminished when 2024-25 PSL Footballer of the Season Lucas Ribeiro was lost to Spanish club Cultural Leonesa.

Cardoso was asked what the difference has been for Downs in recent weeks.

“The answer for this question is probably in my statements from that time [when Downs were struggling],” he said.

“What we got: we got stronger, we got players who made us stronger. We got a collective attitude that is in the direction of the values we express every day. We are leading them in the locker room, we are more committed than ever, we are more together than ever, we spread love more than ever, we train harder than ever. That’s Mamelodi Sundowns.

“There were a lot of questions I addressed in the beginning of the season that you just need to go back and look at them and you will see probably we were right. Recently you were asking about the commitment between the sports director [Flemming Berg], the chair [Tlhopie Motsepe] and ourselves as coaches and players; the support we receive every day that makes us move and really believe we are respected and considered and loved.

“And it’s that. It’s the support of people. I told the players, ‘There’s no coach who exists without a strong locker room.’ And everything comes for the boys, from their reactions, their capacity to unite, to fight against when they are struggling. And we get energy out of challenges. But we need to keep our focus because it can turn around again.”

Speculation around January was Cardoso had lost his dressing room. When he dropped stars like Jayden Adams and Marcelo Allende, eyebrows were raised. But they have come back stronger, adding to Downs’ momentum and depth, and integral midfielder Teboho Mokoena has looked less jaded too. Recently another signing, Monnapule Saleng, has added attacking pace and sting. Another, young Bafana Bafana centreback Khulumani Ndamane, is a real prospect in defence.

“I have to confess I never felt there was any kind of loss in terms of managing the locker room,” Cardoso said. “Obviously when you don’t win here and there the emotions are not the same as when we are together. But we have memory, we know what we did in the past.

“We lost two [domestic] cup matches on penalties, which unfortunately meant we [lost out on those] trophies. In one of them there was not even one entry in our box or shot at our goal. But it’s football.

“Of course, it’s difficult the next day to raise [the morale]. But the players know the direction they want to go in and people in the club help us prominently keeping united. I always said the doors for Chloorkop are very strong. What happens outside is another story.

“We had to fight back, we had to fight for everything, we had to try to be in the best emotions, keeping belief, keeping energy to our fans and the people we love.

“But we showed we are courageous, we have a strong back, and we handled it.”

Before Malien, Downs meet 15th-placed, relegation-threatened Premiership team Orbit College FC in a tricky clash at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Tuesday (7.30pm) needing a win to keep pace with Pirates. Then Stade will provide a strenuous test of whether Cardoso is right that his team are now back on track.