Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso wants PSL to alleviate CAF Champions League fixture congestion

Sundowns secured their place in the knockout rounds of the continental competition as runners-up in Group C behind Al-Hilal, with a 2-0 victory over MC Alger in the final round of fixtures.

Sundowns will next face one of the other three group winners, Pyramids, Al Ahly or Stade Malien in the quarter-finals.

They are also still in the race for a ninth successive Betway Premiership title, while also take on TS Galaxy in an upcoming Nedbank Cup last 16 encounter.

Looking ahead to a packed fixture schedule, the Brazilians boss appealed to the governing body to make provisions for his side.

"I think Champions League teams should be protected in terms of the calendar and I don't know how to do it," he said in the Citizen.

"It's not up to me but I think it will be very important to play these matches with some air in the lungs and I remember the Al-Hilal (away) match (in the group stages) was very tough.

"The trip looks simple but I've already explain that it's very tough and the conditions of playing in Africa changes so much that some matches are so tough to play, (also) like Lupopo away."

Sundowns had a full week to prepare for their clash with MC Alger, with Cardodso adding: "We are an experienced group of people that try to manage as best as possible the context.

"We profited this time but most of all, we profited from the right mindset on everything we had to do to come up a strong game plan."