Orlando Pirates‘ CAF Champions League ambitions could live on or die this weekend. The Sea Robbers are travelling to Mpumalanga to face a feisty TS Galaxy.
DSTV PREMIERSHIP: TS GALAXY VS ORLANDO PIRATES
The battle to play in Africa is going to the wire. Stellenbosch FC is currently in second place with 50 points, while the Buccaneers are in third position with 49 points. TS Galaxy, currently in position five and unbeaten in the last three games against Kaizer Chiefs, Cape Town City, and Sekhukhune United, will be home to Orlando Pirates at the Mbombela Stadium this weekend.
FIGHT FOR SECOND PLACE FIXTURES
- TS Galaxy vs Orlando Pirates – Saturday 18 May
- Stellenbosch FC vs Mamelodi Sundowns – Saturday 18 May
- Orlando Pirates vs SuperSport United – Saturday 25 May
- Richards Bay vs Stellenbosch FC – Saturday 25 May.
SHOCK LOSS TO RICHARDS BAY
Meanwhile, Orlando Pirates have to revive their spirit and confidence. The Sea Robbers lost 1-0 to Richards Bay in Soweto on Saturday. Here’s what coach Jose Riveiro promised to tell his players.
Speaking to the media after Sanele Barne’s strike sunk the Sea Robbers, the Spanish coach revealed what he would tell his Orlando Pirates team.
“As usual, we will do a collective analysis of the performance and I’m sure that if I have this feeling after I’ve lost, just a few minutes ago, that my team was playing as good as we could today, at least in the the first half, it’s true in the second half we were a more, not disorganised, but tried something different and didn’t get what we were looking for,” the Orlando Pirates mentor said via iDiski Times.
“So it’s going to be easy to show them they were doing what we were looking for, with things we know we need to improve. There was a situation in our right side that didn’t work they way we were expected today, there’s little things that could have helped us a bit more to get the result.
“Like I said, we have the opportunity to do an objective analysis of the game, and show the players, we still performing the same way than in the previous seven games where we got the results.
The Spaniard added to say that Orlando Pirates played well enough, the difference was in the final actions to score.
“The only difference today, we didn’t score, we didn’t manage to put the ball in the net like in the previous games, but everything else, the concentration, the pace, the desire, the level of aggression – everything was there. That’s why I said, in my opinion, it’s a defeat that won’t affect us at all, there’s not going to space to feel sorry for ourselves.
“We understand the dynamics of the game, and sometimes you have these types of games and if we have to lose, let’s do it in this way,” the Orlando Pirates tactician concluded.
