Steve Barker discloses pivotal Stellies moments in Zamalek victory

The Egyptian giants gave a dominant performance in the first leg at Cape Town Stadium, but failed to gain any advantage, relying on having to do it all on their home turf in Cairo last night. 

However, it was the tournament debutants who got the all-important winning goal, with Barker crediting his charges for possessing a different mentality despite a hostile home crowd.

"Maybe we gave Zamalek too much respect in the first game, obviously playing against the defending champions – a team with massive history, five Champions League titles," said Barker.

"So maybe we gave too much respect at home, but after the game I said to our team – and I think our players realised that – it's not impossible to get to the semi-final.

"We felt we played well enough and we could see there were certain deficiencies in the Zamalek team, so I think maybe we just gave them too much respect.

"So we came here with a little bit more bravery and a little bit more courage to take the game to them, instead of just sitting back and hoping for a draw and penalties, and I think that was the difference."

It was midfielder Sihle Nduli’s goal with about 10 minutes to go that silenced Cairo International Stadium on Wednesday night – Barker says pouncing late was their game plan all along. 

"It was not an easy match for us, I think Zamalek had a lot of good possession and we needed to just make sure we try and hold the game at 0-0 for as long as possible," he added.

"Because we knew the pressure would then be on them, so that if we scored in the second half later in the game, like we did, then it becomes difficult for them.

"So our game plan was to be really tight, not concede anything, and we knew then they would become more nervous as the game went on."

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