Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has shared his thoughts on what went wrong during the club’s shock CAF Champions League defeat to Jwaneng Galaxy.
The Buccaneers lost 1-0 in the first leg of the second preliminary round encounter at Gaborone National Stadium on Sunday.
Pirates will host Galaxy in a must-win second-leg match at Orlando Stadium during the last week of September.
During the post-match interview, Riveiro questioned the mindset of the players against the side coached by Bafana Bafana COSAFA Cup mentor Morena Ramoreboli.
JOSE RIVEIRO REFLECTS ON THE DEFEAT BY JWANENG GALAXY
“A typical cup and knockout game. We didn’t start [well], I don’t know if it is the approach or the mindset problem of what the game requires,” he told journalists after the match.
“Our level of aggressiveness in the duels was not good enough in the first half. The opponent was more aggressive than us and little by little they were pushing the game to their side so they could give more hope to win the match.
“On transition in one set piece and really bad defending allowed them to take the lead and from that usually we start a different game. I think everyone can reach their own conclusions about the rhythm of the game and the interruptions,” he explained.
“So 1-0 is not the result that we were looking for but we knew that it would be difficult to decide the game here for both sides so still we have to play one more game.”
WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR ORLANDO PIRATES IN THE SECOND LEG
“We couldn’t find the precision in the last meters. It is difficult to deal with a 1-0 [score] in a knockout game. It’s not like in a league game, you are much more in a hurry, and much more stressed.
“Probably the thing that we need to do better in the second leg is to understand that we are chasing a 1-0 and the opponent is in an advantage so they like it or not, probably they will spend time defending like in the second half,” he said.
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