Orlando Pirates will face Namibia's African Stars in Gaborone, Botswana, in Saturday's first leg of their CAF Champions League second preliminary round tie.
This is the home leg for African Stars, but is being played on neutral ground due to a lack of compliant facilities in Namibia.
Pirates bounced back from Saturday's 2-0 MTN8 final loss to African champions Mamelodi Sundowns with a 3-0 South African Premiership win over TS Galaxy on Tuesday.
However, the MTN8 final wounds have likely not yet healed given Pirates' cup dominance in recent years. The best possible response would be to excel in a domain where Sundowns have generally called the shots -- the CAF Champions League.
Pirates became the first South African team to win the tournament in 1995 but Sundowns' era of continental supremacy began with their 2016 triumph and was cemented with another this year.
Sundowns have featured in the knockout stage in all but one of the Champions League tournaments since 2016 and have made two successive finals and four successive semi-finals.
Pirates had a run to the final in 2013 and the semi-finals two seasons ago. However, they were dumped out by Saint-Éloi Lupopo in last season's second qualifying round.
This time, Abdeslam Ouaddou's charges are even more heavily favoured to make the group stage than they were on that occasion.
Key details
Date: Saturday, Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. CAT (2 p.m. BST, 1 p.m. GMT)
Venue: Botswana National Stadium, Gaborone, Botswana
Team news
Star winger Oswin Appollis was stretchered off for Orlando Pirates in their 3-0 win over TS Galaxy and is doubtful for this clash.
Expected lineups
African Stars
GK Mervin Kasetura
LB Charles Hambira | CB Lyema Dopolo | CB Bolly Tjitemisa | RB Ronald Ketjijere
CM Edmar Kamatuka | CM Liam April | CM Okeri Nguarambuka
LW Willy Stephanus | ST Jasper Masialeti | RW Paulus Gideon
Orlando Pirates
GK Sipho Chaine
LB Deon Hotto | CB Sbangani Zulu | CB Lebone Seema | RB Kamogelo Sebelebele
CM Simphiwe Selepe | CM Mthetheleli Mthiyane
LW Mohau Nkota | AM Simphiwe Masilela | RW Bheki Mabuza
Stats
Deon Hotto, formerly of African Stars, is Orlando Pirates' second-longest serving player - having signed in 2020. Only Kabelo Dlamini (signed in 2019) has been at the club longer than the versatile Namibia left-back/winger.
This is the first time in Orlando Pirates' history that they are participating in the CAF Champions League for a fourth successive season, but in 2023-24 (against Jwaneng Galaxy) and 2025-26 (against Lupopo), they were eliminated in the preliminary rounds.