Orlando Pirates will be relying on the power of the famous Orlando Stadium crowd colloquially known as ‘The Ghost’ when they look to overturn a 3-0 deficit to the DRC’s Saint-Éloi Lupopo in the CAF Champions League on Saturday.
The Buccaneers suffered a shock defeat in the first leg of their second preliminary round tie, to leave their CAF Champions League campaign on the ropes before the beginning of the group stage.
It was a heavy thud back to earth for Abdeslam Ouaddou’s men, who were on a hot run of form. Pirates recently won their fourth successive MTN8 title and are six points off first place in the Betway Premiership with three games in hand – therefore essentially on course to go top.
However, they were stunned in Lubumbashi on Sunday. Lupopo opened the scoring in the third minute through Wanet Kashala. Dramane Kambou doubled the lead in the 70th minute before an 88th minute strike from Jean Benoît Tukumbane left Pirates with a mountain to climb.
To make matters worse for the Buccaneers, they left DR Congo without an away goal. Given that is the primary tiebreaker in CAF Champions League ties which finish level over two legs, Lupopo can put Pirates in a predicament if they score once in Johannesburg, as that will leave the hosts needing to score five times.
If Pirates win the second leg 3-0, then the match will go straight to penalties, with no extra time required.
Key details
Date: Saturday, October 25 at 15:00 CAT (13:00 GMT)
Venue: Orlando Stadium, Soweto
How to watch: The match is available to watch on SuperSport (channel 205 on DSTV)
Team news:
Relebohile Mofokeng has been out of action for Orlando Pirates and Bafana Bafana since he was stretchered off during the 1-0 Carling Knockout win over Siwelele on October 4.
His return timeline is unclear, but Pirates have a relatively clean bill of health otherwise. Despite persistent injuries across their backline, they now have the cover to deal with the impact of absentees.
Expected lineups
Orlando Pirates
GK Sipho Chaine
LB Deon Hotto | CB Mbekezeli Mbokazi | CB Lebone Seema | RB Thabiso Lebitso
CM Thalente Mbatha | CM Sihle Nduli
LW Oswin Appollis | AM Patrick ‘Tito’ Maswanganyi | RW Tshepang Moremi
Saint-Éloi Lupopo
LB Joseph Douhadji | CB Mokonzi Katumbwe | CB Junior Marc Mendy | RB Issama Mpeko
CM Tenda Mutuila | CM Dramane Kambou | CM Miché Mika
LW Henoc Molia | ST Wanet Kashala | RW Issama Mpeko
Stats
Lupopo ended an eight-game run of clean sheets for Orlando Pirates across all competitions in their 3-0 first leg victory.
Orlando Pirates are one of two South African clubs to have won the CAF Champions League, having done so in 1995. The other African champions from the country were Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016.
From DR Congo, TP Mazembe have won the title five times and AS Vita once but Lupopo have never been African champions.