Sundowns have not lost at home in the Champions League for two seasons, since Esperance beat them 1-0 at the semi-final stage in 2024.
That is a run of 12 home games, of which they have won seven and drawn five. That defeat to Esperance, when the latter had current Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso in charge, is their only home loss in the competition in five years.
They grabbed the first-leg win thanks to a second-half goal from Colombian Brayan Leon, who headed home from Thapelo Morena’s volleyed cross.
Leon has now scored in each of his last three Champions League starts, netting four goals in all, and is the first Sundowns player to score four goals in a single edition of the competition since Peter Shalulile (six) and Cassius Mailula (four) did so in 2022/23.
But Sundowns were pegged back by a red card for defender Grant Kekana for a high boot. He will be unavailable for the second leg.
Sundowns have received five red cards in the Champions League since the start of the 2023/24 season, more than any other team over that same period.
The others are Aubrey Modiba twice (2024/25 and 2025/26), Khuliso Mudau (2024/25), and Bathusi Aubaas (2024/25). For a side that is not considered overly physical or ‘dirty’, that is a lot.
They might have got the goal, but had to weather a storm of Esperance attacks and did not create all that much themselves. Sundowns managed just two touches in the Esperance box in the first half, their fewest in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League game in five years.
While not quite historic, the win in Rades was notable for being so rare. It was Sundowns’ second-ever win away from home in the knockout stages of the Champions League after 19 tries (D4 L13). The only other time was against CR Belouizdad in the 2022/23 quarter-finals.
The omens are good for Sundowns on Saturday. Esperance have failed to progress from each of their three Champions League two-legged knockout ties when losing the first leg at home: in the 2000 final to Hearts of Oak of Ghana, and in the 2020/21 and 2022/23 semi-finals, both to Al Ahly.
