Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Miguel Cardoso has conceded it will not be easy to get a result against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Masandawana beat Ulsan HD by a solitary goal to top Group F ahead of the BVB and Fluminense, who drew 0-0 in their meeting. A win for the Premier Soccer League champions will give them a direct ticket to the knockout phase, while maximum points for the Bundesliga team will bring their campaign right back on track.
Ahead of the game, coach Cardoso has conceded his opponents have massive quality and suggested Masandawana will be lucky to beat them.
‘The strongest will impose their strength'
“Sometimes I am accused of being negative. I heard already some people saying being [negative], it’s not exactly that, I am not negative, I am very realistic regarding these things, and I’m not afraid to tell things how they are,” Cardoso responded when asked about the chances of making the last 16.
“I think many don’t know Botafogo, it’s the Brazilian champions and last year’s Libertadores champions, but sometimes people mistake things a bit, but you look, they had 28% ball possession in the game against PSG.
“So that result can happen once out of 10… what I mean in regular days, the strongest will impose their strength, but outliers happen always, but those outliers happen when the mental conviction of the team is so strong, their emotional connection is so strong that magic can happen.”
‘Fans should not feel we are unsuccessful'
“That is what I will try to create as an ambience in the team, the level of ambition, of conviction, of determination, so that we also find the right emotions to play that sort of game and produce a good result,” Cardoso continued.
“But people need to understand exactly how to cope with the moments where those things happen and when it doesn’t happen, because they may not happen. They should not feel that we are unsuccessful or not good enough.
“Whatever happens from here to the end of the competition, it might happen in two games, three, four, or even in five, my players are high quality and everyone around the structure is high-level quality people,” he concluded.
