‘The goal by Shalulile is very important and now we’ll go there and try to win. As Sundowns we always try to win everywhere,’ Allende said.
Marcelo Allende has dismissed any suggestions that Mamelodi Sundowns will travel to Tunisia to defend their lead against Esperance in the second leg of their CAF Champions League quarter-final.
Sundowns’ narrow lead
The Brazilians head into next Tuesday’s clash with a 1-0 aggregate lead from the corresponding fixture. Peter Shalulile secured Sundowns’ win with a solitary strike at Loftus Versfeld last Tuesday against the Blood and Gold.
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Masandawana will depart South Africa on Friday to head north for the grudge match, where the winner will advance to the semi-finals of Africa’s premier club competition.
Esperance are last season’s losing finalists after knocking out Sundowns in the semi-finals of the competition to book a date with the Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly who edged the decider 1-0 on aggregate.
“The goal by Shalulile is very important and now we’ll go there and try to win. As Sundowns we always try to win everywhere,” Allende said.
“We know North African teams are always dangerous in set-pieces and we practiced a lot and we were focused. We did well so we need to keep going and have the same patience and stay strong all the time.
“They need to win’
“They need to win and we know that. I think it will be a very interesting game where both teams play to win. It was of course a difficult game (in the first leg), a Champions League game and they are a tough opponent.
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“I’m happy with the win because I think it’s important to recover well, travel to Tunisia and qualify. When other teams play here in Pretoria, they sit back a little bit and I think the game on Tuesday was like that and we know that we needed patience and move the ball quicker and take our opportunities.”
