Denis Onyango says that Mamelodi Sundowns need to adapt their approach to the CAF Champions League if they are to claim the title again.
The Brazilians have won the competition only once, in 2016 and have since reached the quarter-final stage on four occasions, along with one semi-final appearance.
This year they lost 3-2 on aggregate over two legs in the quarter-finals against Angolan side Petro de Luanda.
The veteran goalkeeper said in the Citizen: “It all depends on the mentality of the players and the management because it is a long journey because you have to play the preliminaries which are home and away against a team that you don’t know about.
“It was disappointing because the team did well in the group stages, we won with the highest points and then got knocked out by a team that everyone thought we would beat and go to the semifinals. But that is Champions League football for you, it is very different.
“When you think you are on a high, the team comes and take its chances and they score.”
Onyango added: “The group stages and the knockout stages should be approached differently. It is not an easy tournament to play and win because you need a little bit of luck because we saw how Al-Ahly managed to get to the final, they had all the luck.
“The management and the technical team should sit and acknowledge that we need to improve in such aspects and go a step further.
“When we won it in 2016, there were no quarterfinals. So when we played the semifinal final we saw that the next stage was the final and everyone was motivated and the fight was on. It is a little bit difficult now, we just need to adapt now and we will see what happens.”