Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has weighed in on the possibility of being drawn against Mamelodi Sundowns in the next round of the CAF Champions League on Thursday.
The last-eight draw of Africa’s elite club competition will take place in Doha, Qatar on the on 20 February, with Pirates, who beat Al Ahly to win Group C set to face either Sundowns, MC Alger or Pyramids in the knockout round of the competition.
With Sundowns thrashing Pirates 4-1 last week in their top of the table league clash at Loftus Versfeld last week, Riveiro was asked if it would be a ‘calamitous’ to be drawn against the South African champions.
“It’s one of the three we can get in that draw, if it’s Sundowns, it’s good we don’t need to travel so far, so it can be good for the planning of both teams, we know each other very well, we will play again on the 15th as well,” he said.
“For me, make any comment about possibilities on the draw, we have our conversations among ourselves within the technical staff, even in during our last dinner in camp, which one could be better for the way we play football more than anything else.
“If it’s Sundowns, I think it’s going to be a big, big clash for the country, it will attract a lot of attention [again] but hopefully it’s not this time, hopefully a bit later in the competition, it could be much better for all of us, if that game happens just at the end.”
Pirates advanced to the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup and remain in contention for the league and Champions League while already having wrapped up the MTN8 this season.
