Mamelodi Sundowns’ Peter Shalulile is in fine condition ahead of Saturday’s CAF Champions League quarter-final first leg in Angola against Petro Luanda.
He finished the season with 27 goals after scoring a hat-trick in each of his last two South African Premiership games.
Sundowns, Al Ahly of Egypt, Raja and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, Entente Setif of Algeria, and Esperance of Tunisia have all won the famous African club title.
AFP Sport highlights five points to remember before Setif’s Friday showdown with Esperance.
Shalulile Shalulile has 21 Premiership goals, three domestic cup goals, and three Champions League goals in the Premier League since 2005.
Shalulile will surpass Collins Mbesuma’s Kaizer Chiefs record of 25 goals if he scores five goals in Sundowns’ final five Premiership games (17 years ago).
Sundowns are seven points away from a sixth straight Premiership title after his league trebles against Swallows and Golden Arrows.
Concessions during Ramadan
Champions League games at 1300, 1600, and 1900 GMT have been postponed because of Ramadan.
The quarter-final matchups involving the six North African teams will begin between 2000 and 2200 GMT, with numerous games lasting over an hour beyond midnight local time.
Muslim players are permitted to eat and drink between dawn and sunset during Ramadan, but few do so, preferring to eat and drink the night before games.
Former Ahly coaches Mosimane versus Jose Pitso Mosimane (South African by birth) and Manuel Jose (Portuguese by birth) dispute on who is the best Ahly coach.
Jose thinks Mosimane is the best, but Ahmed “Mido” Hossam likes Mosimane because he has six African titles.
Besides goalkeeper Essam el Hadary, Gomaa, and Mohamed Aboutrika, Jose had one of the best teams in African history for a club team.
Away goals continue to exist.
African football teams still have a rule that doubles the value of away goals in two-leg aggregate matches. UEFA dropped the rule this season.
Since the establishment of the last-eight round five seasons ago, just two quarter-finals have been decided on away goals, both won by Algeria’s USMA.
In penalty shootouts that resolved two other ties, one goal separated seven more teams, and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco won by a margin of five goals.
Consistent Expectation
Since their debuts in 2017, Esperance, Ahly, and Wydad have all qualified for the quarter-finals.
In the last eight teams of the primary African club tournament, only one team has won both home and away matches.
Esperance and Sundowns haven’t lost a game this season in Champions League qualifying and group games. Setif has lost five times in 10 games.
