Petro de Luanda manager Alexandre Santos has made a big admission about Mamelodi Sundowns after being knocked out of the African Football League by the South African giants.
The Angolan outfit were dumped out of the first round of the inaugural tournament after drawing 0-0 at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday evening, with the result ensuring a 2-0 win on aggregate across two legs for Masandawana.
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Downs are now set for a titanic semi-final clash with Egyptian giants Al Ahly on Sunday, 29 October.
Petro, however, were presented with a good chance to work their way back into the tie when Sundowns defender Mothobi Mvala was sent off just three minutes into the second leg after he was deemed to have denied Tiago Azulao a clear goalscoring opportunity during a counter-attack.
The visitors failed to penetrate the Brazilians' defence and capitalise on the one-man advantage, however, despite dominating possession with 58% and taking more shots than the South Africans.
This has since been praised by Petro boss Santos, who admitted that their opponents on the night are strong favourites to win the competition.
"First, congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns. They showed they are a very good team, very good players. They have a very good structure, they know what to do to control the game very well," he said, per SABC Sport.
"We needed a goal to change things for Mamelodi. The red card was not prepared, I didn't expect it and the game changed.
"They defended more, we had our difficulties, but it wasn't enough. We did our best.
"It was not a perfect game because we needed one goal to change the spirit, the stability they have, but it did not happen.
"Congratulations to Sundowns. At this moment, they are a very strong team and very proper to win this competition."
Petro will not be leaving Africa's newest flagship competition empty-handed, though, as all quarter-finalist are guaranteed $1 million (R19 million) for their participation.
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On 24 November, they will resume their CAF Champions League campaign in a group stage tie against Al Hilal Benghazi.
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