Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to return to winning ways as they switch their focus to continental football this Friday. The Brazilians take on Al Hilal of Sudan in matchday five in Group B. Masandawana sit on twelve points at the top of the group with four wins from four and have already qualified for the knockout stages.
Defender Lyle Lakay spoke about how the team is eager to maintain their perfect record in the group: “It is an important game for us, we have set goals for ourselves, we have won all the group stages games so far. We want to end the group stages on a high and winning this game will take us in that direction”.
The Brazilians have already defeated the reigning Sudanese champions 2-0 in the opening fixture of their group stage campaign and will be hoping to do the double when the two sides meet at the Al Hilal Stadium, but the team are expecting a different approach from the home side who currently sit second in the group.
“I expect them to come out guns blazing as you know how teams play when they are at home. They are going to throw everything at us as they feel they have the advantage, they might feel that they stand a chance of qualifying. We are going to stick to the same plan that we always have for every game to make sure we achieve the goal that we set ourselves for this clash”.
Lyle has slowly become one of the more experienced members of the side and an outing on Friday for him will mark his 100th appearances for The Brazilians. As such, Lakay is no stranger to the demanding schedule for Masandawana.
“We have been travelling and playing a lot, there are a couple of big games coming till the end of the season and we take every game like a cup final. We have an objective that we want to achieve at the end of the season and this is not the first time we are in this type of situation, we have experience from many seasons and that has prepared us for such moments. This game is no different and we’re going in with the same mindset and we will give it our all and make sure we get maximum points”, concluded Lakay
