Football
Nick Said, Special to ESPN 7y

Mamelodi Sundowns await crucial CAF home clash with Esperance

Mamelodi Sundowns' never-ending season continues on Friday with a CAF Champions League home tie against Tunisian side Esperance, and coach Pitso Mosimane says it is the perfect opportunity to take charge of their Group C.

The Brazilians were held to a goalless draw at home by Ethiopian side St George in their pool opener, but then showed their star quality with a fantastic 3-1 victory in Kinshasa over AS Vita Club.

"We went to Kinshasha and played a team which had not lost in a Champions League match at home for 30 years and scored three goals," Mosimane said.

The defending champions can open up a three-point gap at the top of the pool at the halfway stage of the competition with victory, and the reigning CAF Coach of the Year says their experience in winning the title in 2016 means they will be prepared for whatever Esperance can throw at them.

"We know where we are going, and we are wiser for the experience from past campaigns," he said.

"We need to win and get up to seven points. We are both on four points right now, and we need to take three points at home, but at a minimum we need to take at least four points from them [home and away], and as they still have to go to the DRC to play Vita, it will not be easy for them. The rest of the teams in the group will cancel each other out."

The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League, a new round that has been added in 2017 as the pool stages were expanded from eight to 16 teams. Sundowns have never lost a home game in the Champions League.

Their previous 35 matches have produced 27 wins and eight draws. The draw with St George ended a run of 13 straight home wins in the competition.

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