Downs learnt from last year CAF flop - Rulani

Mamelodi Sundowns coach Rulani Mokwena is counting on the experience of playing in the CAF Champions League knockout stage to see off Young Africans in the quarterfinal second leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium tonight (8pm).

Mokwena said there are lessons they took in their defeat to Wydad Casablanca in the semifinal last season when they drew 0-0 in Morocco before they were eliminated in the second leg through away goals after a 2-2 stalemate at home.

Sundowns find themselves in a similar situation after playing to a goalless draw with Yanga last week in Dar es Salaam and will approach the second leg with a bit of caution.

"The biggest lesson of the CAF Champions League games is that you can't get too comfortable. The moment you are, you are vulnerable," Mokwena explained to the media during a pre-match press conference yesterday.

"And away from home with the score goalless, the potential of a counterattack can spin the narrative of the game. So, we have to be very careful while in possession and be very careful when we feel comfortable, to try to understand the context of the game.

"But we have been in this situation before and hopefully, that's the experience we can use in this situation where we had the first leg goalless and we understand what happens.

"You just think about the semifinal last season against Wydad. We went to Casablanca and had to come here and get a result, unfortunately it was 2-2. And that experience helped us in the MTN8 when we played [Kaizer] Chiefs. It helped us even in the AFL [African Football League] final when we lost to Wydad in the first leg of the final 2-1 and we didn't have any advantage."

Mokwena expects their opponents to apply a low block. "We have to find holes. It is not easy against a reinforced defensive block. It's becoming a theme a little bit now with very limited spaces in between the lines and behind," he said.

"Fortunately, we've done some very good analysis and the players understand where the game is. Let's see how it goes."