Pirates must force comeback never previously achieved by SA clubs

Orlando Pirates will have to do what no other South African club has previously done if they are to avoid an embarrassingly early exit from the African Champions League at the weekend.

Pirates must fight back from a 0-3 deficit in Soweto on Saturday after losing the first leg of their second round tie to unfancied St Eloi Lupopo from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Lubumbashi last Sunday.

No South African side has ever come back from a deficit of three or more goals suffered in the first leg of an African club competition knockout round tie, leaving the odds stacked against the Buccaneers, who had lofty ambitions of continental success this season.

Saturday’s second leg is at the Orlando Stadium and kicks off at 3pm with the aggregate winner advancing to the group phase next month.

TRIED BUT FAILED

Previous large deficits have seen Kaizer Chiefs suffering a 4-0 loss to Tunisia’s Espérance in the third round of the Champions League in 2005 and going out before the group phase when they could only win the return 2-1.

In the same competition in 2014, Chiefs lost 3-0 away at AS Vita Club in Kinshasa and failed to overturn the deficit in the return leg at home although they did come close as they won 2-0.

Cape Town City lost 3-0 at home in the first leg of their 2022-23 Champions League second round clash with Petro Atlético from Angola and then went down 1-0 away in Luanda in the return.

In the Confederation Cup in 2005, SuperSport United lost 4-1 to Nigeria’s Dolphins in the first leg of their fourth-round tie and could only draw 2-2 at home in the second leg.

In the same competition in 2016, Bidvest Wits sent a second-string side to Azam of Tanzania and lost 3-0 and were then beaten 4-3 at home in the return leg.

Jomo Cosmos lost 3-0 to Mansoura of Egypt away in the first leg of their 1997 African Cup Winners’ Cup quarterfinal and drew 2-2 in the return to be eliminated.

Pirates have to win 3-0 to take Saturday’s tie to a post-match penalty shootout (there is no extra time in CAF club competition ties) or by four or more goals to win on aggregate.

There have been cases of South African clubs overturning a two-goal deficit from the first leg of a knockout round tie, notably when SuperSport took on Lupopo in the Confederation Cup in 2005.

It was 2-0 to the Congolese in Lubumbashi, but SuperSport won the return 2-0 and advanced on post-match penalties.

Black Leopards, Santos and Mamelodi Sundowns have also come back from two-goal deficits to win knockout round ties in previous years.