Cardoso confident Sundowns will finish the job against Al Ahly in Cairo

It's for you to decide who has the slight advantage in the second leg in Cairo of the Champions League semifinal between Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns. 

The Brazilians and the Red Devils played out to an uninspiring 0-0 draw at Loftus on Saturday and a winner must be produced when they meet again in the return leg on Friday. 

Sundowns did not concede at home, which means a scoring draw will be enough to see them progress to the final to meet the winners of the other semifinal between Pyramids FC and Orlando Pirates, which is also on a knife’s edge. 

Pirates and Pyramids played out to an entertaining 0-0 draw marked by VAR drama at FNB Stadium on Saturday night, and must also be separated in their second leg in Cairo, also on Friday. 

Al Ahly will take comfort from enjoying familiar conditions at home as they look to appear in their sixth final in as many years. 

Sundowns face a real challenge procuring a favourable result in Cairo, but coach Miguel Cardoso believes they will finish the job in hostile territory. 

“I still believe we can beat Al Ahly because we didn’t lose to them in this match. There is a lot to be played for still and we can do that out of belief and capacity for what we can put on the pitch. 

“We are going there and expecting a different match. Whoever goes through, the other team will not be happy. But whoever goes through will be strong because these are the two best teams in Africa. 

“One of them will suffer in the end but I hope we can be strong enough to cope. I believe we can cope considering how we coped in Tunisia in different conditions.” 

Downs beat Cardoso's old team, Esperance de Tunis 1-0 on aggregate in the quarterfinals (1-0 in Pretoria, 0-0 in Tunis).

Cardoso talked about Loftus being empty, though the stadium did begin to fill up as the match progressed. 

“I am happy our fans helped us but it is sad to see such a beautiful stadium almost empty when you have a Champions League semifinal. We should have had a full stadium supporting and give us extra energy. 

“It is tough to play in these kinds of games because it is the best players in Africa. The stand behind me was OK but the rest of the stadium was unfortunately not at the level for this game. 

“That could have helped us with energy and it is important that in the next match of the league championship at home our supporters can come in numbers and give us the energy we need. 

“To get past these kind of teams, you need everybody to play and I am talking about players, coaches, staff and the fans. Having said that, I believe we will cope with the energy that will come from the [Ahly] fans in Cairo. 

“The stadium [80,000-seat Cairo International] is huge — it is similar to what we had in Tunis with the athletics track around the pitch and our players have the experience and we will try our best to win in Cairo.”