CAF Champions League preview: Mamelodi Sundowns square up to Esperance Sportive de Tunis

The fixture against Esperance Sportive de Tunis, which is to take place on Tuesday afternoon at Loftus Versfeld comes after Masandawana finished second on the Group B Table.

Bafana Ba Style come from a match which was played on Friday, providing them only three days to prepare for their quarterfinal match. This, according to coach Miguel Cardoso, will not stop the team from giving an outstanding performance.

"We could not profit from more time to prepare for this game. Regarding recovery, everyone will be recovered by Tuesday. We have had enough time to recover, we just didn't have enough time to prepare. This, however, doesn't take away the high level of performance we are going to display on the pitch. The team will for sure be ready for a good game tomorrow and the challenges we'll face," he said.

The two sides last met last year in the Champions League semifinals where Esperance knocked out the Pretoria-based side. Coach Miguel Cardoso says the Esperance side Masandawana played last season is not the same and will have to deal with the new challenges they bring to the pitch. He said: "The Esperance team is different from the one they played last year, in terms of players and the style of play. What we expect is a side that is loyal to Esperance's style of play. We will, however, from the first minute, search for the result we need to advance to the next round."

Defender, Aubrey Modiba, who is no stranger to the continental competition that is the CAFCL, stated that despite how tough the competition is, especially after being knocked out in the semifinals last season, he'd like to see the team go all the way to the final and win it. He has admitted that it's something the team has spoken about.

"I won't lie, we've spoken about winning the Champions League. In these past seasons, we have fallen short in the semis and quarterfinals. We know these games aren't easy and we fight every season to bring that second star. We currently have a good squad that's ready to fight, and a technical team that is helping us. Hopefully this season we can go all the way. We want to see ourselves in the finals because we stand a better chance to win the Champions League. We will take each game as it comes. Now the focus is on tomorrow's game and hopefully, we'll get a good result," Modiba said.

On what he expectd from his side on Tuesday afternoon, coach Miguel said he anticipates that his charges will display one of their beat performances. One that will excite the Yellow Nation.

"These are moments and matches that need us to focus on getting desired results. What you should expect in this kind of match is achieving results. Connecting the minds for us to go and fight together properly helps the team grow. In this match, I expect our players to bring out their best performance on the field."