Stellenbosch FC hungry for more continental football

Stellies made an impressive debut in the competition in 2024/25, going all the way to the semi-finals having faced strong opposition like AS Vita Club, RS Berkane, Zamalek, and Simba SC along the way.

Barker says they struggled to find their feet in African football but eventually got the hang of it, and those lessons will valuable for them should they return for a second successive season.

"I think it's very important because I think we've suffered a lot this season in terms of our first appearance on the continent. A lot of travel, you know, we started the group stages without a win in our first two games, and had to fight back,” Barker said.

“You know, we had to get past a team like Zamalek, so that experience we got was such a good experience and we gained experience. So, now, to not play there in the following year would not be something that we would want.

“All clubs and all players want to be competing on the highest level on the continent, so yeah, it is very important for us, but now, it's not in our hands. We can now finish the last two games as best we can and what would be, would be."

READ: Kaizer Chiefs keeper Brandon Petersen on two ‘cup finals’

Stellenbosch and Sekhukhune United are on 44 and 45 points respectively, having both played 26 games far this season.

Barker’s team will find it hard to secure all six points on offer to try and finish in third position, facing Supersport United this weekend, before closing it off with Cape Town City on May 24, two teams that are in desperate need of victories in the fight against relegation.

"We've learnt how to deal with the amount of games that we've played and I think that was our 49th game. So, yeah, it's been tough, a lot of travelling, a lot of home games that we had to play away from home,” he added.

“We just need to summon up the energy for the last two sort of weeks. Two massive games and obviously that will be difficult because we are playing against teams that are fighting for their sort of statuses.

“So it’s not gonna be easy but we have to bounce back and get over this as quickly as possible. Be positive about what we've done this season and finish the season strong, and hopefully you know, we can still secure third position."