Ahead of the Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy CAF Champions League qualifier, let's look at the team news for both teams.
First of all, this encounter will take place at Orlando Stadium in South Africa where Pirates will look to cancel the 1-0 loss away in Botswana a fortnight ago and advance into the Group Stage of this competition.
Although, Jose Riveiro's side have had a couple of weeks to forget that culminated in three straight losses, they will be eager to bounce back to winning ways in order to have a chance at another CAF Champions League trophy.
Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy 2nd leg team news
Orlando Pirates team news
Regardless of Pirates poor run of three successive defeats, they've booked a place in a third final in just over a year.
The Soweto giants lost to Stellenbosch in the MTN8, couldn't draw Mamelodi Sundowns in the PSL, and fell to a slim defeat to Botswana champions Jwaneng Galaxy, creating an unwarranted run of results despite the array of stars available in the team.
Jose Riveiro's take on the game
Nonetheless, Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro is confident his side can overturn the first-leg defeat against Jwaneng Galaxy to qualify for the CAF Champions League group stage. But a new challenge in the form of Morena Ramoreboli’s outfit will be a tough one.
Speaking ahead of the match, the Bucs tactician said:
“Look it doesn’t matter, it’s about us tomorrow to perform our best, it’s a home game against a good team, an opponent that is already leading 1-0, it’s a challenge but we love the challenges.
“This one is an opportunity to prove that even in difficult circumstances, we can make it, we can be our best version tomorrow and the games we already played in the competition are not going to play tomorrow, it won’t be played tomorrow.
“What happened in Botswana is in the past and tomorrow we have the opportunity to write an important page in the club history, for our future, for many things like you hear with the captain, the players really want to go to the competition [group[ stages] and test themselves and test themselves against the best teams in the continent.
“So if tomorrow we don’t get a result that we’re not wishing for, it’s not because of a lack of trying everything, it’s going to be difficult for us but it’s going to be even more difficult for the opponent for sure.”
☠️ 📽 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 📽
📢 #Buccaneers, watch the #TotalEnergiesCAFCL Pre-Match Press Conference LIVE!
🏃🏾 Team Training INCLUDED
🕥 Start Time | 10h45📺 Available on PiratesTV 👉🏿 https://t.co/W77kpe30wq
🏆 #TotalEnergiesCAFCL 2nd Preliminary Round
🛎 Leg 2…— Orlando Pirates (@orlandopirates) September 28, 2023
Latest injuries?
Bucs have no new injury concerns to bother about ahead of the clash, and this will be a boost for the side who have a wealth of very good players to select from.
Where South African fans can watch Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy
This all-important CAF Champions League match will be available on Pirates TV via YouTube. At the time of writing, none of the television stations in the country have confirmed live broadcast of the match.
Jwaneng Galaxy team news
Lesagaripa have a 1-0 lead from the first leg of the second preliminary round following the shock home victory on 17 September.
The coach of the side, who is a South African, knows what to expect and how to set his team up for the battle. Here are his thoughts ahead of the clash.
Morena Ramoreboli's take on the second leg
Having also qualified for the group stages during the 2021/22 season, Ramoreboli’s side are 90 minutes away from achieving the same feat. But the South African-born gaffer understands progression to the group stages will not be easy.
On how the team intends to approach Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy battle
“We are not in this stage for the first time, We know the challenges, the pressure we face going away,” he told the media.
“But we will always try our level best to give our all in every opportunity we get. So going away and facing Orlando Pirates we know it’s not going to be easy but we will do our best to make sure that we get the results we want.”
Ramoreboli knows the calibre of team his side will face
“Orlando Pirates is a big team and it’s up to you if you decide to go and press them high and expose areas where they want to play. Try to close certain areas where they want to play. As I indicated, they are very deadly at playing into those half-spaces.
“So it’s up to you whether you want to play an open game and allow them to get into those spaces. If you know what you want to do, you will understand the importance of being patient,” said Ramoreboli.
Ramoreboli hints at a second-leg approach in Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy
“The second round approach will be different because here [first leg] we had to try and start from the back. We had to try and be able to get into the areas where we wanted to play.
“As I said on many occasions where we started the ball at the back, we had very good and positive feedback in terms of progressing our build-up into our midfield third and last third,” he explained.
“That’s very good when you play against an organized and a big team like Orlando Pirates, you must understand that there is something positive that you have done on the day.
“So for me personally I think obviously in the second half they needed to score and they had to throw everything at us. So it was up to us to try and handle the pressure that was coming.”
A healthy squad
Lesagaripa have no cause for alarm as their players are fully fit and battle ready. Ramoreboli will look to set up the best players he thinks will guarantee his side the needed result.
Will Orlando Pirates vs Jwaneng Galaxy be broadcast in Botswana?
BTV might likely show the match highlights as was the case in the last game. What we're not sure is if the game will be available from kick-off.
This article was most recently revised and updated 1 month ago