It’s all delicately poised

Despite beating the Chloorkop-based side five times in 13 games, the Moroccan outfit is yet to secure a victory on any of their six prior trips to the South African capital. All their wins were in Casablanca. Wydad have drawn three matches and lost three at

Loftus Versfeld. With Peter Shalulile and Lucas Ribeiro Costa doubtful due to injury, Themba Zwane, who is Downs’ leading scorer against Wydad with three goals, will certainly be the heartbeat of the side as usual and the team needs a big performance from him. Bunjira believes the Brazilians need to create more chances to stand a chance of winning.

“Sundowns will not be intimidated by Wydad because they will have a home crowd behind them. The second leg is going to be a different ball game altogether and it’s not going be easy for Wydad. I believe that Sundowns can turn things around and win this trophy. Even though Sundowns conceded two goals, in a two-legged match and with an away goal, Sundowns have a very good chance. If they score early and take the lead, then things will turn around. If Sundowns were told before the match that the scoreline was going to be 2-1 (in Morocco), I’m sure they would have taken it. My only concern is that in the first leg, Sundowns didn’t have a lot of creativity. I thought that Wydad had width and were well-organised at the back. In the second leg, Sundowns will need someone who can unlock the opposition defence. Whenever you are facing a strong and disciplined defence, you need someone who can dribble. If Sundowns keep on playing straightforward, it will be really difficult to create chances. They need someone who can dismantle the stubborn Wydad defence and someone who can take them on and unsettle them. Wydad is a very disciplined team and they are very compact at the back. Maybe the coach should allow the forward players to take risks. 1-0 can give the trophy to Sundowns, so there is no need to rush. It’s good to be careful so that they (Wydad) don’t score. If Wydad score an away goal, it will be very difficult for Sundowns. The first priority for Sundowns is to protect the goals and not concede. Even if the score is 0-0 at half-time, it’s still good. Teams like Wydad play on the adrenalin of their fans and when they come to South Africa, they won’t be playing at the level that they were playing in Casablanca. We might see a different Wydad team altogether that is passive and affected by the environment in Pretoria. In Morocco, they had their fans, brothers and uncles supporting them and they in Pretoria. They same support and help Sundowns. I they won’t be as in the first leg.”