Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane wants a home win in the CAF Champions League

The defending African champions qualified for the quarterfinals of the competition without winning a game at home in the group stages. It’s unlike last year when they were ruthless on home soil.

Sundowns host the quarterfinal first leg clash at Lucas Moripe Stadium (15h00) and know that they need to get a good result at home because the second leg will not be easy.

Last year Wydad showed how dangerous they can be at home when, after losing 4-0 to Zamalek in the first leg in Alexandria, they bounced back with a 5-2 victory in the second leg in Rabat.

It was not enough to take them through to the final, but it shows how well they can do in their backyard.

“They lost 4-0 and then they went and won 5-2 in the second leg. What does that tell you? They don’t die there [at home]. So this story of us doing well away from home might backfire. So let’s dust the old book where we won our home games. Let’s try win at home because you never know what’s going to happen in Wydad. We can’t bank on the future,” said Mosimane.



“If we don’t score, they must also not score. If it’s a draw, there must never be goals. That’s the best result [to take away from home]. It must never be a draw with goals. But I don’t want that. I’d like Sundowns to score and not concede.”

Having played against North African clubs on quite a number of occasions in his coaching career, Mosimane has a good idea of what to expect from Wydad.

“They [North African clubs] forever have the same formula. I have never seen a different formula. They sit back, they look, they check you. If they realise you are shaky, they gain confidence and go for it. You saw Al Ahly played Wits, you saw when Zamalek came here. They all do that. They don’t park the bus like South Africans do. I hope you understand, they are tactically organised. In South Africa they don’t go, they sit there.”

due to the injuries he has in the team. Yannick Zakri and Khama Billiat were training with the team on Thursday, but it’s unclear at this stage if any of them will be fit to play on Sunday.

“If I can get one at least from the attackers I will be happy. I don’t know if I will have [Anthony] Laffor, Khama or Zakri. I just need one attacker because [Thokozani] Sekotlong, [Mogakolodi] Ngele, [Cuthbert] Malajila are not part of this programme,” Mosimane said.