Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso is confident his players can focus on their upcoming Betway Premiership matches even with the African Champions League final on the horizon.
Sundowns will play at least four league matches before the first leg of their Champions League final against Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces in Pretoria on 15 May.
“The experience of the players takes them exactly towards the direction of finishing the league in the best way,” said Cardoso when asked whether his players already had their minds on the Champions League decider next month.
Sundowns have been chasing Champions League success since they won their first African title in 2016 but are also in the running to win a ninth successive Premiership title.
The defending champions are one point behind Orlando Pirates in the race for the league but have a game in hand which they play on Wednesday away against Polokwane City.
Then they have three successive home matches against Polokwane City on Sunday and Kaizer Chiefs next Wednesday (both at Loftus Versfeld), followed by Siwelele in Atteridgeville on Saturday, 9 May.
Sundowns have dropped four points in drawing their last two league matches after securing their Champions League final berth with a hard-fought 2-0 aggregate triumph over Esperance of Tunisia.
“You know that after the Champions League match, like the one we played with such a high level of commitment, intensity, and difficulty, it's quite difficult to get back on track (in the league),” Cardoso added.
“But few teams ever win their next league match after playing in a Champions League semifinal.
“Obviously, I think we lost a great opportunity at home against Stellenbosch (1-1 draw at Loftus Versfeld last week) with the game we played and the total control of the match we had, and to concede a goal in the last minutes of the game obviously dropped a little bit the energy,” he added.
Since the Stellenbosch stalemate, the Sundowns were held to a goalless draw at Richards Bay on Sunday.