South African league more competitive than Nigeria league – Remo Stars coach Tiago Conde

Head coach of Remo Stars Tiago Conde says the South African league is more competitive than the Nigeria top-flight.

His comment stem from his outfit humiliating defeat to the South African giants in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League.

The South African giants triumphed over the Nigeria champions to secure a place in the group stages of the competition. Peter Shalulile and Nuno Santos scored for Sundowns in the return clash, held at Loftus Versveld as they progressed 7-1 on aggregate.

Speaking after the game, Tiago Conde affirmed Sundowns seems to be more prepared than his outfit due to the level of competition in both leagues.

“Of course, the competition, the local competition in South Africa, seems more competitive in the level higher than the competition we have in Nigeria. Because of that, we can see Mamelodi more prepared [for these] kind of games than us.” He said.

Meanwhile, Tiago Conde has named Sundowns as one of the favourites to annex the CAF Champions League this season.

“I’m expecting that Mamelodi will be among three or four teams, [and] will be the team with capacity to win this competition, for sure,” Conde stated.

“I cannot see more teams with this capacity they have. They have a mix of players, South African players, Brazilian players, Portuguese players, [and] he’s a Portuguese coach as well, so I’m sure,” he said.

“I don’t know if they get champion in the national competition, but in the CAF competition, I’m expecting they can be champion. I cannot bet, but if on the quarterfinals, I’m sure Mamelodi will be one of the teams on the semifinals…

Sundowns will learn their group-stage opponents on November 3 during the draw in Johannesburg.