Jose Riveiro concedes the Caf Champions League quarter final outing against MC Alger 'wasn't good' but reveals he prepared his players - 'We knew we had to suffer'

Orlando Pirates are close to making the Caf Champions League semi-final after their 1-0 win over MC Alger in the first leg of the quarter-final played on Tuesday night.

The hosts had many chances to get a goal, but good goalkeeping from Sipho Chaine and their indecisiveness in front of the goal cost them.

It ended with Mohau Nkota scoring the only goal of the match.

Coach Jose Riveiro has now opened up on how he had prepared the players ahead of the crucial fixture.

"The way the players applied themselves, really fighting for this one, was key. It wasn’t especially good for us here at home to play with decent speed, but we knew that to get a good result, we had to be prepared to suffer," Riveiro said after the match

"It goes without saying that scoring a goal was very important, and we did that. But we have to play 90 minutes at least in Orlando, and football is unpredictable. I think the second leg is going to be very equal, and hopefully, we can be better than them again."

The Spaniard concedes he wasn't expecting an easy outing.

"We knew we had to suffer. We probably weren’t going to be the team we usually are when we have possession of the ball," he added.

"The Champions League is a different story, especially when you play away from home. We were a little bit more pragmatic. Did we concede many chances? Yes, we did.

"They were close to scoring, but that’s normal. We knew that would happen. We are in the last eight of the Champions League, and we’re facing one of the best teams on the continent. We expected to have moments where we had to suffer."

Riveiro has further stated he did not enjoy seeing his team struggling for possession but the end justified the means.

"Is this the scenario we want to experience all the time? Of course not. We don’t want to spend so much time out of possession, but I’m so proud of the boys.

"Their application, their ability to be resilient in difficult moments, and to get a good result against all the odds was fantastic. It’s a great way to start the quarter-final, but we know there’s still a lot of work to be done," Riveiro concluded.

Riveiro now hopes his squad can finish the job on Wednesday when they host MC Alger at the Orlando Stadium.

A draw and a win of any kind will be enough to see Bucs reach the last four.