Mamelodi Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso felt something was missing in his team following their defeat to Pyramids FC in the final of the CAF Champions League.

The Brazilians were unable to secure their second star in the continental competition after they suffered a 2-1 defeat in the second leg played at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium on Sunday.

Fiston Mayele opened the scoring for the Egyptian side in the 23rd minute before Ahmed Samy doubled their lead in the 56th minute, but Sundowns managed to pull a goal back in the 75th minute through Iqraam Rayners but it proved to be a consolation goal.

The Egyptian giants went on to win the match and secure the CAF Champions League title after claiming a 3-2 aggregate win in the two-legged final.

“Well, you know, I always speak about how important it is to compete at the highest level,” Cardoso told SuperSport after the match.

“It’s exactly the answer I gave to questions asked by the journalists in South Africa.

“They asked, ‘why is it so difficult to play against teams from the north of Africa?’ Because those teams compete.

“They play well, of course, they also play football, but they compete at a high level.”

The Sundowns mentor admits that his side were missing something but does not feel that Pyramids were better than the Brazilians.

“Every duel is a life changer. Every ball they fight for, they fight with all the energy they have. Ending some moments, I felt that there was something missing on our part,” he added.

“But I don’t think that we played worse than Pyramids. I think that was shown in both matches. But Pyramids were very competent, very capable of keeping us from playing the way we wanted. Most of all, they gave their lives in every ball they were challenging for.”