Orlando Pirates warned Champions League place is not yet secured

Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou says his side still have work to do despite taking a 1-0 lead into Friday’s CAF Champions League second qualifying round return leg against African Stars.

The Buccaneers secured victory in the first leg in Botswana on Sunday, with Tshepang Moremi scoring the only goal after half-time. They will progress to the group stages if they avoid defeat at Orlando Amstel Arena.

Ouaddou, however, has urged his players to treat the second meeting as a separate challenge rather than assume their advantage will be enough.

“I think we have succeeded in the first half of the two games and we still have the second half in South Africa,” Ouaddou told the media after the match.

“I cannot say we have one foot in the group stages. We still have an important second half there and we will have to prepare for this to qualify for the group stages.

“It’s an important target for the club, the technical team and the players, so we’ll rest and prepare well so we can start that game to win it.”

Pirates were eliminated by St Eloi Lupopo at the same stage of the competition last season, but Ouaddou said his squad had prepared carefully for the conditions they encountered in Botswana.

He said the club’s analysis department had forecast temperatures of 35 degrees and 36 degrees during the week leading up to the match, allowing the players to plan for the heat.

“When we prepared for this game in the week, at the beginning of the week, our analysis department already told us that we will have 35 degrees, 36 degrees. So, we were prepared for that. I said to my boys that we are on a mission and soldiers who are going to the mission,” he said.

“We don’t care about the weather, it can be 40 degrees, it can be -10. We are going there to get results and to go through the next group stages.

“Mentally, we prepared the boys because, you know, when you play in the Champions League, you have to adapt to any condition, and it’s part of the development of the boys; it’s part of football.”

The return leg in South Africa will determine whether Pirates reach the CAF Champions League group stages.