Mamelodi Sundowns playmaker Marcelo Allende.
Image: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix
Marcelo Allende is under no illusions that Mamelodi Sundowns have wrapped up their CAF Champions League semi-final and urged his teammates to remain “focused” in Saturday’s second-leg tie against Esperance at Loftus Versveld.
Sundowns claimed a historic 1-0 victory in Tunis last Sunday, and will now have the added advantage of an away goal in Pretoria.
But Esperance showed during the previous round that they are excellent travelers by overcoming Egyptian giants Al Ahly 3-2 in the second-leg quarter-final in Cairo.
Allende is therefore fully aware of the challenge that awaits Sundowns in the nation’s capital.
“We know that Esperance is a strong team in many ways, so we need to keep focused,” the Chilean playmaker said.
“We need to play from the first minute and go for the win. We always look for a win.”
Sundowns’ temperament was certainly tested in the hostile environment of the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in Radès, where a partisan crowd were fully behind the home team, and utilising their trademark lasers in a bid to distract the opposition.
Allende feels the experience of facing Esperance in Tunis two seasons ago played a pivotal role in Sundowns finally breaking down the Mkachkha (The Smiling One) fortress.
“The atmosphere here, we know, is amazing. I think all the types of players like to play in this type of atmosphere, with this type of support, so we have a big respect for them.
“We know the crowd. We have experience. We played a lot of games.
“Last time we played against them was two years ago. We know the atmosphere, we knew the fans are coming for us, but I think we keep being strong all the time.”
But coming back home to Loftus for the second leg, Allende believes Sundowns now have a duty to their own Masawandana faithful to deliver a performance worthy of reaching a second consecutive CAF Champions League final.
“It's still open, the qualification for both teams. We need to play another game, and we need to finish the game there in Pretoria with our people,” he said.
“Every year they have different types of play. We prepared well with the coaches, with the players, and we could win the game, big game for us, but it's not finished.
“It's football, everything can happen, but we need to focus on our behaviours, on our game, on our ideas, check the game and prepare in the best way, where we can attack, where we can hurt them and win the game.
“We need to play the second game and win it, because we play with our people and we need to go to the final. We play with our people, with our culture, so we need to win and we go for everything.”
Allende has been a pivotal part of CAF Champions League campaign, playing 739 minutes in 11 matches, and contributing one goal during the group stages against Congolese outfit FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo.