Smiso Msomi
The race for the remaining CAF Champions League spot has been left up for grabs ahead of the final week of DStv Premiership fixtures for the season.
With Mamelodi Sundowns already confirmed as champions and the first entrants into next season’s edition of the premier continental club competition, eyes have turned to current second-place dwellers Stellenbosch and Orlando Pirates, who are a point and a place behind them in the standings.
The two teams have afforded each other glorious opportunities to seal their place in the competition over the past two weeks as they both buckled under pressure to slump to two defeats apiece.
Frontrunners Stellies were shocked by Moroka Swallows before falling at the feet of champions Sundowns last time out, failing to add to the 50 points they already have on the board.
The Sea Robbers have frustrated their million-strong fan base with wasteful showings against relegation-threatened Richards Bay as well as TS Galaxy, suffering stunning defeats against both.
Both teams are guaranteed continental football next season having already qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup by securing places in the top three.
Stellies head coach Steve Barker and Buccaneers mentor Jose Riveiro have tough psychological assignments ahead of this week after seeing their sides struggle to handle pressure situations.
For Barker and his men, this may be another lesson that will sharpen his young group for the future but the experienced mentor will need to get them through it and hopefully with Champions League football to look forward to.
After a historic 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions, Stellies are now winless in their past four outings and have gone three successive games without finding the back of the net.
Those results have not only seen them fail to seal their place in next season’s Champions League but have also resulted in them exiting the Nedbank Cup at the semi-final stage. Star striker Iqraam Rayners has also hit somewhat of a dip in his form at the wrong time, as was evident when he missed a penalty against Sundowns in their last loss.
For Pirates, the loss of form at this crucial stage is somewhat of an anomaly as the Buccaneers usually rise to the big occasions with their three trophies in the past two seasons evidence of that.
For the first time in a long time, Riveiro publicly questioned his group’s yearning for Champions League football after their match against The Rockets.
The two teams are presented with two difficult tests to try prove their worth on the final day.
Pirates will welcome Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport United to the Orlando Stadium on Saturday with fresh memories of the last meeting between the two teams.
Matsatsantsa scored three and conceded one as they blew Pirates away in the first round in December.
Richards Bay are next up for Stellies as the two teams collide in uMlazi on Saturday.