Unbeaten run won’t make up for CCL heartbreak - Rulani Mokwena

The Brazilians have already been crowned league champions for a seventh successive time, with six games to spare, and they are yet to suffer a single defeat. 

However, the 2-0 aggregate defeat to Esperance still remains fresh on Mokwena's mind as he insists he would much rather have preferred Downs progress to the continental tournament final than preserve this domestic record.

"No, I'm still reeling, and I'm talking personally. I am still reeling. Someone tried to console me and said, 'You've got a double already – the AFL and the League title, so why are you still reeling?' But I'm reeling," said Mokwena.

"I must say to you, I feel like I've let the club down; I feel like I've let the supporters down; I feel like I've let this group down because it's my job to lead, and when we fail, it's my job to stand in front and assume the responsibility.

"So I don't think it will make up for it. We deserved to be in the semi-finals of the Champions League, based on the performance of the semi-final second leg, I think we did enough to give ourselves a chance to be in the final."

The Sundowns mentor, still only 37 years old, believes they will eventually add a second Champions League title to their cabinet. 

"Eventually we will win the Champions League, but we've got to continue and persist because it's not an easy competition to win, and you've seen it – it was only myself and [Al Ahly coach Marcel] Kohler in the semi-finals back-to-back, no other coach was there," he noted.

"And then, for the first time we did a back-to-back semi-final appearance where [the likes of] Wydad, Al Ahly, Esperance have been doing six or seven in a row."

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