The Bucs skipper has explained what could give Jose Riveiro’s men an edge on Sunday
Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela feels that their CAF Champions League opponents playing their home match away will give the Buccaneers an advantage on Sunday.
The Sea Robbers face Madagascan club Disciples in the opening leg of the first preliminary round on Sunday but the home team will not enjoy support as the match is set to be played in Mauritius due to unavailability of a CAF-approved stadium in Madagascar.
Maela therefore believes the lack of the 12th man plays in the hands of the South African giants even though they will still need to put in a great effort to get a result.
Can Pirates capitalise on Disciples’ lack of home support?
“It's an advantage for us because they will be playing away from their fans. It's their home game but it's not in their country but that doesn't mean it will be easy for us… we will still be required to dig deep. We are ready to give a good account of ourselves,” Maela told Sowetan.
Maela also revealed that Jose Riveiro’s men have already done their homework against their opponents and know their strengths and weaknesses ahead of the clash.
“We've seen a few clips of them. We know that they like passing [to] each other. They are a ball-playing team but they also hurt teams in transition, so we must be very careful,” he added.
“We are Orlando Pirates and we should be able to adapt to whatever style of play we come up with on the day, and we must not take them lightly.”
Maela has warned against complacency in Sunday’s match
Pirates will be looking for a first leg advantage in Mauritius to avoid getting into next weekend’s second leg at the Orlando Stadium under pressure.
While he remains confident of victory, Maela has cautioned his team-mates against underrating their opponents as they can spring a surprise.
“With all that being said, the main thing is to focus on ourselves … work for one another on the pitch. We also need to be mentally strong because Champions League games are a different ball game,” said Maela.
“It's crucial for us to go all out and make sure we don't lose in Mauritius because we don't want to have that pressure in the second leg in front of our supporters.”
