Sundowns coach Mokwena refers to Klopp’s EPL comments on PSL scheduling

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena referred to comments made by Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp when asked about the Premier Soccer League (PSL) scheduling midweek matches before Sundowns’ knockout Caf Champions League matches.

Klopp has this season made comments about a similar situation in English football.

Sundowns were at a disadvantage in their effort to win a second Champions League title in 2023-2024 as they were the only team in the quarterfinals and semifinals who had to play midweek games before both legs.

The Brazilians’ punishing schedule continues as they play their 52nd game of a season where Downs have competed in six competitions when the newly-crowned DStv Premiership champions meet Lamontville Golden Arrows at Mpumalanga Stadium in Hammarsdale on Wednesday (7.30pm).

Sundowns appeared to be notably disadvantaged in their Champions League semifinal against Esperance Tunis, who had played far fewer games than the Brazilians this campaign and had no midweek domestic matches before both legs (the Tunisians won 1-0 home and away). Downs drew 2-2 against Moroka Swallows in Dobsonville on the Monday before the away leg in Tunis and beat Sekhukhune United 2-1 at Loftus Versfeld on the Tuesday before the home leg.

Mokwena was asked about that situation after Downs beat Stellenbosch FC 2-0 in Sunday’s Nedbank Cup semifinal at Danie Craven Stadium.

“I don’t want to answer that because if I do I might get myself into trouble,” he said.

“What I will say is I want you to go to Juergen Klopp’s interview of a few days ago, where he speaks about the failure of the English teams not making it to the semifinals of the [Uefa] Champions League and Europa League.

“And people say, ‘Ja, Sundowns have got 36 players, it’s not like Liverpool with 22’. But the reality is our travel is a lot more extensive than European travel.

“To go from England to play Porto in Lisbon, how long is that flight? But to go from South Africa to play Esperance in Tunisia, how long is that flight?

“And then you’ve got to leave two or three days before, which means you’ve got a training session on the other side and that means you need more than 20 players because of the possibility of injuries.

“Klopp ends it so well, saying, ‘And this is coming from an old man who’s about to leave the game'. So I want to end it by saying, ‘This is coming from a young man who’s wet behind the ears and knows half of what Juergen Klopp knows and therefore it’s better for the young man to listen to what he said’.”

Klopp, who has been backed up by other managers including Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, said issues in a punishing Premier League schedule were behind English teams failing to progress to the semifinals of the Champions League and Europa League.

“If you think all English teams underperformed, there were definitely moments — us against Atalanta and things like this. But the Premier League is the best league in the world,” Klopp said.

“It is not overrated, the players are overworked.”

The PSL has faced challenges in a season where, after initial resistance, it had to make space for Sundowns to compete in the inaugural African Football League (AFL), which the Pretoria team won in October and November; and the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February.

Added to that the “league cup”, the Carling Knockout, returned with a new sponsor making three cup competitions.

Sundowns’ schedule in the run-in to the end of the Premiership — playing fixtures since their second leg against Esperance in the Premiership and Nedbank Cup on April 29; May 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21 and 25; and the Nedbank Cup final on June 1 — left the PSL little room to reschedule their earlier midweek games in question.

The league might have been able to push the already late Nedbank final later and start the next campaign, where there is no Afcon to break for, later — which is a big ask, but many countries that appreciate the prestige of their teams competing in the Champions League would do it.

The league might also have been more proactive from the start of the season making space for the AFL so it would not have been left scrambling so much when Downs progressed far in the Champions League.