Exiting Champions League in preliminary stages as defending champions a major blow, but many trophies to play for

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso knows, having brought the Caf Champions League trophy back to Mamelodi Sundowns last season, he has the breathing room to feel that exiting in the preliminary stages this campaign does not put him under immediate pressure.

Downs exited in the final round before the group stages, which they had reached the last 11 seasons in a row, with Friday night’s 1-1 second leg draw against Wiliete SC at Loftus Versfeld in a game Cardoso felt his team “controlled completely, we just failed in scoring the goals we had to score”.

Downs had the lead via Tashreeq Matthews’ 11^th-minute strike but were unable to add to the opener. That allowed Wiliete to equalise via their dangerous attacking line and centre forward Mabululu’s 49^th-minute strike that ultimately saw the Angolan club through on away goals, as the first leg had ended 0-0.

Cardoso’s tenure since replacing Manqoba Mngqithi in December 2024 has been marked by successes such as reaching successive Champions League finals and winning Africa’s most prestigious title last season, their second overall and first since Downs previously won in 2016. Those have been punctuated by disappointments such as conceding an eight-campaign run as Betway Premiership champions to a talented Orlando Pirates last season.

The 54-year-old Portuguese defended his record as having more highs than lows.

He was also asked what the remainder of the 2026-27 campaign holds after such a major blow as a second preliminary round exit from the Champions League as defending champions.

“It means we have to focus even more on the competitions we have to play. We have a qualifying match already for the Carling Cup in three days, then we have an important Premiership match, then we have a final to play in the Caf Super Cup. So there are a lot of trophies to play for,” Cardoso said.

“Of course, we cannot forget what it means to be out of the Champions League. It’s hard for the club, it’s hard for the coaches. As you can imagine, for myself it’s hard after being in the final three years in a row. And it’s hard for the club that was supposed to have been in the group stage 12 times in a row.

“Great empires also come from ashes. Tonight is a dark night, obviously, but it’s a dark night that has to give us the energy and that purpose to move forward and build more.

“Maybe it’s an important lesson for looking ahead because, as I usually say, we are not what happens to us, we are much more what we do with what happens to us.”

Sundowns, facing a punishing schedule in seven competitions in 2026-27 and with an eight-player core of their squad who had no off-season playing for Bafana Bafana at the 2026 Fifa World Cup, have been hit by injuries since lifting the Champions League trophy in the 2025-26 final against AS FAR of Morocco in May.

After the club was rocked by the tragic death of Jayden Adams, Downs’ injury list in recent months and weeks has included major performers Khuliso Mudau, Grant Kekana, Keanu Cupido, Aubrey Modiba and Ronwen Williams. Star midfielder Teboho Mokoena went off in the away leg against Wiliete and could not pull through to start the second, though Williams and Modiba did make their returns.

Cardoso acknowledged the personnel losses since last season’s final as clearly affecting the Brazilians but also admitted, with Downs’ depth in talent, his line-up on Friday should have had enough firepower to get past dangerous but far less wealthy and experienced Wiliete.

“When you see this team and compare it to the one that finished the Champions League last year, one has nothing to do with the other. Of course we would be stronger with those players. Because it would give us more variability, allow us to choose other options.

“But that is not an excuse at all. We should have won this match with the players we had on the pitch and those who we introduced [from the bench]. Because we created enough to win. Basically we didn’t lose the match, we drew two matches. But we also have progressed in this competition [in the past] because of away goals.

“So we only have ourselves to blame because of the goals we did not score and the misfortune we had [in front of goal] is what it is — it can happen in the game. That’s why the chances you get you have to finish, so you don’t get exposed to a random goal that comes from the sky.

It’s a big blow this one, it’s a big punch in our faces, yes. But what will make us stronger is how we are going to react, because there’s so many more things to win.

—  Miguel Cardoso

“And if you don’t, as time goes by [without scoring] you can start to feel the pressure from the players not used to this level. But with all respect, there’s no excuses — we all should have done better.”

The coach was asked about conceding the league title in 2025-26, which might have cost him his job had Downs not won the Champions League, and how that now puts pressure on Cardoso for more domestic success in 2026-27, though also frees the Brazilians to especially put resources into the assault to regain the Premiership.

He defended his record, where Downs have in “four years reached two [domestic cup] semi-finals and two finals, two Champions League finals in a row with one star on the shirt, and in this season two trophies already from two finals and leading the league”.

Downs put aside a domestic cup drought going back to 2022 beating Pirates 2-0 in the MTN8 final last month and overcame Al-Ahli Saudi 1-0 for the African-Asian-Pacific Cup, which forms past of Fifa’s ongoing Intercontinental Cup, in September.

The Caf Super Cup, where Sundowns meet USM Alger at Loftus on November 8; Carling Knockout Cup, where they host Marumo Gallants at the same venue in a first round clash on Tuesday, and season-ending Nedbank Cup all also give Downs plenty of opportunities at more trophies, Cardoso pointed out.

“It’s a big blow this one, it’s a big punch in our faces, yes. But what will make us stronger is how we are going to react, because there’s so many more things to win.”