Yanga, Mamelodi in decisive CL quarters clash

TANZANIA: THE judgment day has arrived as Mamelodi Sundowns host Young Africans in the second leg of the CAF Champions League (CAF CL) quarter-final match at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa today.

After a goal-drought in the first leg meeting at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam last Saturday, the time is now for the two sides to be separated as one of them advances into the Champions League semi-finals.

Today’s game must generate goals to avoid the winner being decided through penalty shoot-outs, as according to the competition regulations under the fixture and format, the away goal rule will be applied in the event of a draw over two legs and if the two are tied, then penalties will determine the victor.

Any scoring draw will favour Yanga, going through on the away goal rule, which is what they will be bargaining on as their first route to the semi-finals, and this means their hosts need a convincing win to stop that.

At a pre-match briefing yesterday, Yanga coach Miguel Gamondi reiterated that his charges are ready for the showdown and that their target is to win.

“Of course, it will be a tough match similar to the first leg encounter but we are well prepared to play our match, and hopefully, good results will come our way from the game.

“We have worked at some of the challenges that surfaced in the previous encounter, especially in terms of goal scoring and this is another opportunity to prove that we are here for a purpose,” Gamondi said.

The Argentine trainer is searching for a record to be the first coach to send Yanga into the semi-finals of the Champions League and that can come to pass if he manages to upset the South African giants.

On his part, Mamelodi Sundowns Coach, Rhulani Mokwena also anticipated a tough encounter, while revealing that based on the training sessions they have had, he has a strong belief to do well.

“We are playing against a good team that defended well in the past game, as such we need to press hard to open them and get enough goal-scoring spaces. Our approach is going to be different from the first leg duel and for the past few days. We have worked hard on how to easily apply it on the battlefield,” he said.

The winner of the game between Yanga and Mamelodi will sail into the semi-finals where they will either play ASEC Mimosas or Esperance.