Why Pirates cannot rest on their laurels against MC Alger

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says the Buccaneers will be going all out to beat MC Alger again, when the two teams meet in the second leg of their Caf Champions League quarterfinal at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening. 

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Pirates have a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Algiers, but there will be no thought of sitting on their lead. 

Pirates’ Riveiro – ‘It’s about the way we want to play’

“We believe we can win tomorrow,” said Riveiro. 

“That we have a chance to face the game with the intention to win, not thinking so much about what happened a week ago in Algeria. We have a bit of an advantage with the goal that we scored. But will still have to think about the reason we are still alive in the competition. 

“It is about the way we want to play, about personality, about the way the guys are expressing themselves. Tomorrow we don’t want to be a different team than before. We are taking it game by game … we are all in for this game.” 

Pirates had to fight hard for their win in Algiers, and were described as “opportunistic” by MC Alger coach Khaled Ben Yahia.

They can certainly expect to be more on the front foot at Orlando Stadium. 

“This competition is not about beauty, it is about winning,” added Riveiro. 

“You have to go deep into every phase of the game. You must be better than your opponent in three, four or five different games within the 90 minutes. 

“We are talking about the quarterfinals of the Champions League, with the eight best teams on the continent. You have to accept there will be a moment you will dominated and a moment you will be dominated.

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“In these (Champions League) games, especially away from home, we have been through these phases many times. 

‘The team is confident’

“The team is confident because we know we are capable of being that good.

“We have been excellent so far, but tomorrow we can have a bad game and go out. Those (other) games must be a reason for us to believe, even though we go through moments where we have to suffer. We know we are capable of doing it, and surviving at the end of the day.”