That sounds very promising, but a deeper dive makes for more disturbing reading for Sundowns fans as they head into the second leg of this year’s final against Morocco’s AS FAR, holding a 1-0 advantage from Sunday’s first fixture in Pretoria, where they should have won by a greater margin.
They have led after the first leg in all three previous knockout ties they have played this season and advanced on each occasion, beating Remo Stars of Nigeria (5-1 & 2-0) in the second round, Stade Malien of Mali (3-0 & 0-2), and Tunisia’s Esperance (1-0 & 1-0).
That was already a club record for the number of times they had led after the first leg of a knockout tie in a single Champions League season, which they have now extended to four with Sunday’s win.
There have been just two previous occasions where they held the advantage after the first leg and failed to advance in the competition.
The first was against TP Mazembe in the second round in 2015. They held a 1-0 advantage from the home fixture but lost 3-1 away in Lubumbashi. The following year, they would lift the trophy.
The second instance came against Moroccan opposition in the quarterfinals in the form of Wydad Casablanca in 2017, which they will hope is not an omen.
They again won the home leg 1-0 before losing by the same margin in Casablanca, and the home side triumphed 3-2 on penalties.
When they have won the first leg, they have gone on to claim victory in the second on 16 occasions (62%). A further four games (15%) have been drawn and six lost (23%), though, as mentioned, that has only stopped them progressing on two occasions.
When the second leg has been away, which has occurred on 13 occasions, they have recorded three wins, three draws and six defeats, which is a less encouraging record.
In fact, they have won none of their last eight away second legs after winning the first fixture (D3 L5) since a 1-0 victory at Mauritian side Curepipe Starlight in 2008.
Their record in second legs after winning the first match in the post-group stage knockout rounds (quarterfinals onwards) also does not make for good reading — played six, drawn one and lost five.
And they have not scored a goal in any of these matches, with their lone draw a 0-0 result at Esperance in the quarterfinals last season.