Rhulani Mokwena concedes CAF Champions League defeat after Saint-Eloi Lupopo loss dents his MC Alger quadruple dream 'I think they were a better team'

Sitting at the bottom of Group C after three games is something that Rhulani Mokwena could not have ruled out when the CAF Champions League draw was announced, but his wish was to see MC Alger do better than they have done.

Winless and with just a point to show for after three rounds, the Algerian league champions are now staring at a possible elimination at the group stage.

On Sunday, they played Saint-Eloi Lupopo of the DR Congo at the TP Mazembe Stadium and expected a win, only for them to drop more points following a 1-0 defeat.

The loss left them at the bottom as Lupopo gained ground with the leading sides, Al Hilal and Mamelodi Sundowns.

According to the former Mamelodi Sundowns tactician, MC Alger were squarely beaten by their group rivals because of several avoidable factors.

“Congratulations to the opposition; I think they were a better team over 90 minutes, especially in the first half,” Mokwena told the media in Lubumbashi, as per iDiski Times.

“We didn’t compete enough, and we arrived late for the duals; we arrived late for the second balls. We made too many mistakes in the Champions League game, but in the second half, I thought we were a little bit better, with all the players doing enough to help the team to be comfortable on the pitch.

"It is just a pity that it’s a moment where we had some chances; we were let down by our decision-making," he added.

“I think there was one situation where Farat could have given Naiji, or maybe another final pass. Okay, it’s a pity that we lost the game in the second half when we were much better, but in the Champions League you have to play 90 minutes, not 45 minutes.”

Domestically, Mokwena is doing well, as MC Alger have put themselves in a position where they can easily defend the Ligue 1 title.

After 15 games, MC Alger enjoy an 11-point gap ahead of the second-placed CR Belouizdad.

Mokwena has already bagged his first trophy with the Algiers-based giants after beating USM Alger to the Algerian Super Cup.

The 38-year-old Premier Soccer League winner with Mamelodi Sundowns is chasing more titles: Ligue 1, the Super Cup, the Algerian Cup, and the Champions League, a possible quadruple for him in his debut season with MC Alger.

MC Alger and Mokwena have a reason not to surrender now, given what the group looks like at the moment. Sundowns lead with just five points, and Al Hilal are second with the same points as Lupopo, who sit third with four.

What Mokwena needs to do is to ensure MC Alger win their remaining two games and hope the leading sides drop points in their respective fixtures. Mathematically, there is still a high probability of them reaching the quarter-finals, and thus there is no need to throw their hands in the air at this point.

Meanwhile, Sundowns had a chance to consolidate their place at the top but dropped points at home following a 2-2 draw against Al Hilal. To Miguel Cardoso, Downs' head coach, they can only blame themselves.

Fortunately, we can only complain about ourselves. I think they entered our box two times and scored. Pretty naive from our defence.

“This is the level of football where you cannot do those kinds of things. You have to finish the game. We had more than enough chances, and we need to be clinical in the box," Cardoso complained.

"This is really serious in terms of responsibility and incapacity to score, because we played the game, we controlled it, and we had total control. I think we had more than enough today to have a victory."

“We cannot expose ourselves to being penalised by one situation. There was nothing more in the game other than that situation,” he continued.

“Suddenly, you’re winning, and you allow a goal like that. We created much more than we needed to... we had to be clinical and score the goals as it should’ve happened.”