Brayan Leon’s Scoring Prowess and Unprecedented Red Card Count: Sundowns Prepare for Esperance Second Leg Showdown

Sundowns have maintained an unbeaten record at home in the Champions League for the past two seasons, their last defeat coming from Esperance, who won 1-0 in the semi-finals of 2024.

This impressive streak spans 12 home matches, featuring seven victories and five draws. The loss to Esperance, when the current Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso was in charge, remains their sole home defeat in the competition over the last five years.

They clinched the first-leg victory thanks to a second-half header from Colombian Brayan Leon, who found the net following a volleyed assist from Thapelo Morena.

Leon has been in fine form, having scored in each of his last three Champions League starts, totalling four goals. He is the first Sundowns player to achieve four goals in a single tournament since Peter Shalulile (six) and Cassius Mailula (four) did so in the 2022/23 season.

However, Sundowns suffered a setback when defender Grant Kekana received a red card for a high boot, ruling him out of the return leg.

Since the beginning of the 2023/24 season, Sundowns have received five red cards in the Champions League, more than any other club during this timeframe.

The additional red cards belong to Aubrey Modiba (twice in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons), Khuliso Mudau (2024/25), and Bathusi Aubaas (2024/25). For a team not typically known for a physical style of play, this seems excessive.

While they managed to score, Sundowns faced relentless pressure from Esperance, creating limited chances themselves. Remarkably, they registered only two touches in the Esperance penalty area during the first half—this marked their lowest total in the opening 45 minutes of a Champions League match in the past five years.

While the win in Rades wasn’t exactly ground-breaking, it was certainly remarkable. This marked Sundowns’ second-ever victory away from home in the knockout phase of the Champions League, having previously gone 19 matches (with four draws and 13 losses). Their only other success in this context was against CR Belouizdad during the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 season.

Positive signs point towards Sundowns ahead of Saturday’s clash. Esperance have never managed to advance beyond the knockout stage of the Champions League after losing the first leg at home, having succumbed in the 2000 final to Ghana’s Hearts of Oak, and in the semi-finals of both the 2020/21 and 2022/23 seasons to Al Ahly.