Brayan Leon’s Goals and a Surge of Red Cards: Sundowns Prepare for Esperance’s Return Leg

Over the past two seasons, Sundowns have remained unbeaten at home in the Champions League, with their last defeat on home soil being to Esperance, who edged them 1-0 during the semi-finals in 2024.

This impressive streak consists of 12 home matches, where they have secured seven victories and five draws. The only blemish on their record in the last five years was that narrow loss to Esperance, who were coached by the current Sundowns’ manager, Miguel Cardoso, at the time.

Their victory in the first leg was clinched by a second-half header from Colombian Brayan Leon, who connected with Thapelo Morena’s volleyed cross to find the back of the net.

Leon has become a pivotal figure, scoring in each of his past three Champions League starts with a total of four goals to his name. He is the first player from Sundowns to achieve four goals in a single edition of the tournament since Peter Shalulile (six goals) and Cassius Mailula (four) in the 2022/23 season.

However, Sundowns will be without defender Grant Kekana for the return leg, after he was shown a red card for a high boot in the first leg.

Since the 2023/24 season began, Sundowns have recorded five red cards in the Champions League, more than any other side during this period. Alongside Kekana, Aubrey Modiba has been sent off twice (2024/25 and 2025/26), and Khuliso Mudau and Bathusi Aubaas have each received one red card (2024/25). For a team not typically seen as overly aggressive, that’s a striking statistic.

Despite securing the vital goal, Sundowns had to endure heavy pressure from Esperance and struggled to create many chances of their own, registering just two touches in the Esperance penalty area during the first half, their lowest tally in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League match in the last five years.

While not a historic achievement, sealing the win in Rades was certainly significant, marking just their second victory away from home in the knockout phases of the Champions League after 19 attempts (D4 L13). The only other time Sundowns achieved this feat was against CR Belouizdad during the quarter-finals in the 2022/23 season.

The omens appear favourable for Sundowns as they prepare for Saturday’s match-up. Esperance have never advanced from any of their three two-legged Champions League knockout encounters after losing the first leg at home, including their defeats to Hearts of Oak in the 2000 final and Al Ahly in the semi-finals of both the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons.