Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro believes his team were the better side against MC Alger in both legs.
The Buccaneers claimed a 1-0 aggregate win over the Algerian side despite playing to a goaless draw in the second leg at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday. The Soweto giants will now play Egyptian isde Pyramids in the CAF Champions League semi-final.
“Orlando Pirates was the better team I think during the two games,” said Riveiro on SABC Sport.
“So congratulations to the boys, to the club, to our fans. This is a fantastic moment for all of us and we have to really enjoy the moment. There’s nothing that can change the fact that we are in the semi-finals.
“Oh, it’s a difficult team to play against long balls one after the other. It doesn’t matter you cannot press them, you cannot have possession in their half after pressing because they will kick the ball as soon as they see a little bit of ball possession.
Riverio said Orlando Pirates control the second leg
“They are good in the second actions. They are a strong, good side, so they have the capacity at least to take you there for two or more times after the long ball. But I don’t think that we suffered so much in those actions”.
“I think the game of our back-five, back-three was excellent [Thalente] Mbatha and [Makhehleni] Makhaula in the second balls Rele [Relebohile Mofokeng]. The way that Dion [Hotto] and Deano [Van Rooyen] helped us to run away of the pressing in the first half it was excellent.
Jose Riveiro will leave Orlando Pirates at the end of the season. He could still leave with three more titles having claimed the MTN8 earlier this season.
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