Ahead of their final CAF Champions League (CAF CL) group-stage match against Mamelodi Sundowns, TP Mazembe head coach Lamine N'Diaye has lauded the DStv Premiership champions as the best team in Africa.
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For the first time since the 2019/20 season, the Ravens will be returning to the quarter-finals of the continent's premier club competition.
They have progressed from Group A alongside Masandawana, with both teams having managed to accrue 10 points from the five games they have played so far in the tournament.
Mazembe managed to get the better of Rulani Mokwena's charges the last time the two sides met, winning 1-0 in Lubumbashi.
This was Sundowns' first loss in the CAF CL since 2022, when they were beaten by Petro de Luanda in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
Despite managing to attain this triumph, the Congolese side's Senegalese head coach is has claimed that Ka Bo Yellow are still the best club in Africa.
"For me, Mamelodi Sundowns is currently the best team on the continent and in order to get a result, the players need to be very good individually and collectively," he said while addressing the media on Friday afternoon.
"Beating Sundowns made me very proud as we did our best, but they will be looking for revenge because they lost against us at home. We know here that they will do their best. It will be difficult but we're here to get the result."
The coach was also asked if he analysed Bafana Bafana's Africa Cup of Nations matches to in preparation for this match against the Tshwane-based side, to which he answered: "We weren't just focusing on the AFCON, we don't need that. Sundowns is playing every three days.
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"They're accustomed to playing in Africa, so we watch them and know them."
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