Sundowns seal 11th straight CAF Champions League group stage appearance 

Mamelodi Sundowns ensured they would be in the group stages of the CAF Champions League for 11 straight years following their 7-1 aggregate win over Nigeria champions Remo Stars.

Sundowns won the return match of the second preliminary round 2-0 at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday but they had already completed the job in the first leg as they won 5-1 in Nigeria last Sunday.

However, coach Miguel Cardoso still fielded a strong team in the second leg and they did the job without much effort.

Santos and Shalulile down Remo Stars

Sundowns went ahead after 20 minutes through new signing Nuno Santos. The Portuguese midfielder fired home from the box after Peter Shalulile’s dummy and there was no way back for the visitors.

The Brazilians should have netted the second in the 32^nd minute when Tashreeq Matthews fired in a shot that was deflected out for a corner and from the resultant kick, Shalulile headed over the bar.

However, Shalulile would get on the score sheet on the stroke of halftime after heading home from a corner.

When will group stage draw be conducted?

There were no more goals in the second half but Sundowns still had command of proceedings as they went on to win 7-1 on aggregate.

It is now 11 straight seasons in the group stages of the competition for Sundowns, who reached the final and lost, last season.

The PSL champions will be among the top seeded teams when the group stage draw in conducted in Johannesburg on November 3.