Sundowns have dominated the Betway Premiership for close to a decade but still only have one Champions League title to their name, with victory over Zamalek in 2016.

They did manage to make it to last season’s final but lost to Egyptian Premier League side Pyramids FC.

Under Miguel Cardoso, the Brazilians didn’t get off to the best start this term, and were eliminated in both the MTN8 and Carling Knockout on penalties, but they have since found their form, and head into their clash with St Eloi Lupopo at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday in good spirits.

Allende said on Times Live: “The performance of the team has been improving; obviously, we didn’t start the season in the way we wanted. We could not get the results we wanted. We were knocked out of the two competitions in a penalty shootout.

“But the team has been collecting energy out of that and moving forward; at the moment, we feel that we are stronger. We feel like we have more availability of resources, and we know that we will be stronger in the future as we recover.

“We have to continue to win matches; that’s the most important thing.”

“We know what needs to be done to win the title; we need to take it game by game, and the most important one is this weekend,” Allende added.

“We must not lose focus on the group stages. We have to focus on the matches first so we can reach the final.

“Everyone knows how important this tournament is for us. I think starting with a win will be crucial for us. We are well prepared, and we are ready to start with the three points.”