Riveiro: Beautiful football is less important at this stage

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday Apr 09, 2025. 11:00

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro fully expects his team to suffer against MC Alger at the Orlando Stadium on Wednesday evening, but has faith in their ability to overcome another difficult moment in the CAF Champions League.

The Buccaneers head into the second leg of their quarter-final tie on home soil with a 1-0 advantage, having done all the hard work at the Stade du 5 Juillet on April 1 when Mohau Nkota scored the all-important goal on 65 minute to secure the win.

Riveiro’s side remain unbeaten in Africa’s elite club competition this season and they’ve only conceded one goal in their own backyard, but the Spanish tactician pointed to their resilience away from home as key to surviving on the continent.

The Sea Robbers also beat CR Belouizdad in Algiers and stunned defending champions Al Ahly in Cairo during the group stages (both 2-1 victories), highlighting their capacity to dig deep in games.

“Obviously, it’s for everyone to see, the way the team managed to go through difficult moments in all of those games that you mentioned (away to Belouizdad, Al Ahly and MC Alger) but still managed to win,” Riveiro said in his pre-match press conference.

“That [winning even when we’re dominated] says a lot about our capacity to compete because this competition is not about making it beautiful, it is about digging deeper in each and every phase of the game, and be better than the opponent, I’d say, in three, four or five different games you have to playing during 90 minutes.

“Right now we’re talking about the quarter-finals of the Champions League. We’re talking about the eight best teams on the continent, and you’ve [got] to accept and assume that there’s going to be a moment where they’ll dominate you.

“Those games must be reason for us to believe even when we go through those periods [of being put under pressure], because tomorrow it’s going to happen. There are going to be moments that we have to suffer, and we know that we are capable to do it and survive at the end of the day.”