A decade later, are Sundowns poised for Champions League glory again?

Mamelodi Sundowns are on the verge of a second Caf Champions League final in a row.

They produced an impressive 1-0 deconstruction of Espérance Tunis in their semifinal first leg in the hornet’s nest 60,000-seat Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi in Radès, the coastal harbour city and southern suburb of Tunis, on Sunday night.

Last year Downs eked their way through the quarter and semifinals. Against the same Espérance in the quarterfinals, Downs coach Miguel Cardoso schemed a 1-0 aggregate win over his old team and the Brazilians needed the away goals rule to get past Al Ahly in the 1-1 semifinal.

If Sundowns finish the job in this year’s semifinal with a degree of comfort — Champions League knockout ties are never comfortable and Espérance have plenty of ammunition to create difficulty — in Saturday’s second leg at Loftus, the Yellow Nation might hold hopes this is the year to add a second star to the badge. It would come, rather symmetrically, a decade after their first triumph in 2016 under Pitso Mosimane.

Downs have competed strongly in the Champions League since. They have applied particular trophy pressure, reaching four semifinals in succession, and the next week will reveal if the last two of those translated into finals.

Cardoso would then be in his third final. He steered Espérance there, getting past Sundowns in the semis in 2023-24. The coach knows his way round the Champions League knockout stages. The coming weeks will reveal if he is due a trophy in the competition now, or will remain its ‘nearly man’.

There are some other factors that might give Downs supporters hope that this is their year again.

A tried and tested combination has been hardened and forged across campaigns that took it to three-and-a-half semifinals and a final.

In last year’s final, two players provided a notable difference for Pyramids FC in their 3-2 victory against Downs — Burkinabè midfielder Ibrahim Touré and especially Democratic Republic of the Congo striker Fiston Mayele.

Sundowns reportedly tried and failed to procure Mayele in the off-season. After battling, by their standards, in the first half of 2025-26, the arrival of big Colombian striker Brayan León in January has played a major role in lifting the Brazilians.

He seems to have the physical and finishing attributes and mobility to provide a ‘Mayele effect’ in the three remaining decisive Champions League games, if Downs reach the final. He provided the 52^nd minute winner on Sunday night and was a constant thorn in Espérance’s side.

Also, as much as Moroccan football is on a high, indicated by the other semifinal being an all-Botola affair, FAR Rabat and RS Berkane (FAR are 2-0 up from the home first leg in their semifinal) are perhaps not quite so fearsome combinations on paper as last season’s Pyramids.

Cardoso was pleased with his team’s tactical discipline in the first leg in Radès, even if it left room for improvement.

“The match was what I expected,” he said. “In terms of us wanting to have a match played at the highest level from us as possible, in our possession and capacity to look for the spaces and take the ball into the spaces, and find players we wanted in play positioned in certain spaces, it was not really mission accomplished.

“So I think by half time — despite, I think, that we produced a better first half than second — the positioning was not exactly what we wanted, so we were not able to establish the game we wanted to play.

“We made some corrections at half time. I think getting the goal gave us an important emotional moment. That gave us the energy to take the match up to the end.

“After we lost Grant [Kekana to an 84^th minute red card], obviously the game became much more tricky to close and keep the result.

The team that deals better with the different [critical] moments is the team that will proceed to the next round

—  Miguel Cardoso

“We take nothing for granted — the attitude in Pretoria has to be even stronger, even more commitment, more tactical strictness and more control of the match. And play to win, because when you don’t you can suffer.”

Cardoso has brought a tougher edge to a Sundowns who pride themselves on expressive football within a disciplined framework. His more pragmatic style has not always been quite as effective domestically, where Downs can and should brush aside many opponents convincingly rather than grind results. When the step up is made to international club football, where margins for error are much slimmer, generally Cardoso’s Downs have performed.

The approach has not gone unnoticed. The Tunisian press asked Cardoso in the post-match media briefing if he believes his Sundowns are “more pragmatic and realistic” and “have more defensive stability” than previous iterations.

“Any team that has a history, way of playing and an identity has to always be as loyal as possible to what the team is. It’s the same with Espérance, the same with Sundowns, and with the other two teams in the semifinals,” the coach said.

“The teams will always fight to impose themselves on the opponents. But the games at this level have different moments. And tonight, as expected, there were different moments in the game and that’s exactly how it will be in Pretoria. The team that deals better with the different [critical] moments is the team that will proceed to the next round.”

The job is far from done for Sundowns, even against Espérance, let alone against a top-class Moroccan outfit in the final. But 2025-26 might provide the best opportunity yet to add another Champions League title, which would write the names of the generation of Ronwen Williams, Kekana, Khuliso Mudau, Teboho Mokoena, Thapelo Morena and León into history.

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