Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Marcelo Allende says they are going to Tunis for a win in their second leg CAF Champions League quarter-final against Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
Sundowns travelled to North Africa, holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg that took place at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday with Peter Shalulile bagging the only goal of the game.
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While it’s not an unassailable lead to be heading to Radés with, Allende says they are aware of what is needed to finish the tie off.
“It was a difficult game, a Champions League game, against a tough opponent and happy for the win, it’s important, now we’re preparing for the away game, to get through and qualify,” Allende said.
“You know when the other team played in Pretoria, they waited a little bit [before attacking], I think it was like this again, we know we need patience [against Esperance] move the ball, faster, quicker and takes our opportunities.
“The goal from Shalulile was very important, and now we will try to win, we try to win always everywhere [we go].”
Having combated well with the aerial duels and set-pieces thrown at them from Taraji this week, the Chilean midfielder who has formed an impressive midfield trio with Teboho Mokoena and Jayden Adams admitted it’s something they worked tirelessly on in training.
“We know the North African teams are very dangerous on set-pieces, we practiced a lot on this, we put a lot of focus on it,” Allende said.
“We did well [in the first leg], now we need to keep going and be on the same page. They need to win at home, we know that it will be a very interesting game when both teams play to win – because we’re Sundowns and we’re going there to win.”
The two sides meet at the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi on Tuesday evening at 21h00.
