Victory the only way to secure Champions League spot - Jose Riveiro

The Buccaneers were held to a 1-1 stalemate by Sekhukhune United on Saturday, while SuperSport United beat Kaizer Chiefs to take the race for runners-up down to the wire next weekend.

A win secures Pirates participation in the Champions League, and Riveiro insists that’s the only way to get the job done when they face AmaZulu.

"We need to win. Firstly, it's going to be a difficult game, away. AmaZulu is an excellent team so we need to think about how we are going to win the game. It's the last game of the season. So we need to win, we need the three points," he said.

SuperSport were initially in the driving seat for second place, but Pirates’ sizzling form helped close the gap over the last few weeks.

"We have a small minimal advantage but if you think about the scenario three months ago and the advantage that our opposition had in that moment, I think we can be proud of the performance of the team in the last part of the season," the coach added.

Riveiro would then be responsible for getting Pirates into the Champions League for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

"We are glad to be in the last fixture with the opportunity in our hands to be second. We are going to fight for that and that's all we need to do. We need to win, hopefully with enough advantage to consolidate the second position."