Pirates’ rich CAF history give them edge over Jwaneng Galaxy

Despite the shock of defeat, they suffered against the same opponents at the same stage of the competition last season, Orlando Pirates will go into Saturday’s Champions League second preliminary round first leg clash against Jwaneng Galaxy as favourites  (kick-off is at 4pm).

This is because Pirates have a rich history in CAF Interclub competitions, having reached the final of the Champions League final in 2013 and the final of the CAF Confederations Cup in 2015 and 2020.

They won the Champions League in 1995 and Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has made it clear that one of their targets this season is to go all the way to the final.

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Club captain Innocent Maela, however, has asked that the new players not be judged on past achievements.

“The last time we played in a final, most players who achieved that are no longer here with us. This is a new group and a new experience for most of us. It’s an opportunity to grow and approach the competition with humility,” said Maela.

“We look forward to competing against the best on the continent testing ourselves and putting the club where it deserves to be. That is where we want to be as players. We are ambitious and want to be in that space for as long as possible,” he added.

They are also the in-form team going into this clash at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone having won three and drawn two of their last five games. They kicked off the season with a convincing 3-1 win over SuperSport in the quarterfinals of the MTN8.

Pirates then saw off Disciples of Madagascar over two legs of the CAF Champions League first preliminary round before beating Cape Town City 3-1 over two legs in the MTN8 semifinals.

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Galaxy on the other side needed a 7-5 penalty shootout win over Namibian outfit African Stars to reach this stage of the competition. The tie had to be decided on penalties after Galaxy suffered a shock 1-0 defeat in the away leg before winning by the same margin at home.

Morena Ramoreboli’s side, however, did knock Pirates out of the CAF Champions League last season and they will certainly fancy their chances against the Buccaneers.