Bloemfontein in the past as Downs switch attention to CAF CL

The Brazilians open their group stage campaign at Loftus Stadium against DR Congo outfit AS Maniema Union tonight on the back of a surprise defeat to Magesi FC in the Carling Knockout final over the weekend.

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Mngqithi insists Sundowns don’t have any room for errors in the continental tournament where they are among the favourites to win.

''This one is our bread and butter, the Champions League and the Championship. We can not afford to falter in that one, we  have a big responsibility to our fans, our God, to ourselves, to our families as well because it is one tournament we have always been trying to win. We have to push very hard, to get to a place where we can find the team in the last match of the tournament and see what happens from there,'' said Mngqithi.

The Sundowns mentor remains confident in the style of play he’s introduced this season with the team being more direct.

But he says it isn’t tailor made for the Champions League.

''It's the way of playing that we have adopted not mainly for the Champions League but to try and improve our transgression, because we have been playing well but we have not been creating a lot of chances. Look at the game we played over the weekend where we had 20 shots at goal but we only scored one goal, the opposition only had three and they scored two. So it is our responsibility to try and maximise on the number of changes first before we go deeper into trying to be a little bit more clinical, but I think the team is responding well in that regard. It is just that we were unlucky in the previous match, we created enough to win the match. Maybe some decisions in the final third were not very good, to such an extent I think the R100 000 caused problems in our team, but let me leave it there,'' added Mngqithi.

Asked whether he knows for certain if the players have completely moved on from the setback against Magesi on Saturday night, Mngqithi said whatever the case may be…Sundowns can’t “make excuses”.

''You never really know whether you have managed to get their minds where you want them to be, but from what I have seen the team is back. I think everybody is aware of the challenges we have been through more especially with our internationals. I think that was also a big factor in the game we played over the weekend because we couldn't change the team that we know can make us win the match. But at the back of our minds we also knew that we had a lot of players that had played two 90 minutes in a short space of time, that had some effect in the latter part of the game, which is why we had to make some changes. But I think the team is looking good, and what is important is to make sure that the team is fresh because we can't make any legitimate excuses - we have to win matches, and not make excuses,'' he expressed.

Mngqithi has once again put in the hours to prepare for Maniema – one of the lesser known teams in a group that includes Morocco giants Raja Casablanca and AS FAR.