Massive blow: Rhulani Mokwena set for Mamelodi Sundowns re-union in MC Alger's CAF Champions League outing without 'very important players'

Coach Rhulani Mokwena unceremoniously left Mamelodi Sundowns two seasons ago after serving as the head coach for two years.

Most of the players he coached are still serving the Brazilians, who are hoping to go all the way and win their second CAF Champions League title.

MC Alger, who are coached by the 38-year-old, were pooled with Masandawana in Group D of the CAF Inter-Club competition.

This is the first time Mokwena will face his former team since parting ways and working with the Botola Pro League outfit Wydad Athletic Club, which preceded the People's Club.

In the 2-1 loss against Al-Hilal last weekend, the Algerian Ligue 1 side lost their centre-back Ayoub Ghezala, to an injury. According to coach Mokwena, he is not the only one who will not be involved on Friday night.

“I have already asked [goalkeeper Alexis] Guendouz to train as a centre-back in the past few days. I’m joking,” he said in his pre-match interview.

“But listen, since I’ve been here, fortunately or unfortunately, I don’t know how you want to look at it. We have never had all our players available ever since day one. Whether it’s through suspension to national team responsibilities for some, to injuries.

“Very important players like Ghezala, Marwane Khelif, [Mohamed] Zougrana, [Mohamed] Bangoura. Never ever have you heard me complain, not even once," he continued.

“So, it’s a situation that we have to find solutions for. We had a similar situation before, but in this moment, we have to try and see.

“If we use Rostom [Dendaoui], Khelif, [Mohamed] Benkhemassa at centre-back, these are the possible options. We will see. But we have a squad, we are a big team, we have no excuses," Mokwena added.

The tactician has further insisted despite working for them in the past, there is nothing extraordinary since all games in the competition are tough.

“We prepare like any other normal game. Firstly, we had to recover from the difficult trip to Rwanda [where they faced Al Hilal] and then an analysis of our performance against Al Hilal,” Mokwena explained.

“Then we started our preparations like normal, for any other opposition. Trying to have enough information, not too much but enough information for the players to be able to play the match.

“So, nothing special. It’s a Champions League game, of course, a difficult Champions League game. All games in the Champions League are difficult," he concluded. 

During his time with Mamelodi Sundowns, Mokwena reached the quarter-final but were eliminated by the Moroccan side Wydad Athletic Club.

In his last campaign with Masandawana, he helped them reach the last four but fell to the Tunisian side Esperance to crash out.

Mokwena hopes to go all the way with MC Alger, who reached the last eight in the previous campaign before Orlando Pirates beat them to advance.