Pirates played a host of youngsters and fringe players in the first leg away from home and drew 0-0, despite creating numerous chances.
That has left them vulnerable to an away goal, and if the Mauritians score once, Pirates will need at least two goals to advance in regulation time. CAF regulations still use the away-goals rule in preliminary-round ties.
But the Buccaneers have a strong record when drawing the first leg away from home, having progressed from five of the seven previous ties in that situation.
In those seven previous instances, they have recorded five wins, one draw and a single defeat when playing the second leg at home.
That defeat came against TP Mazembe from the DR Congo in the Champions League in 2002, when they drew 1-1 in Lubumbashi but then lost 3-1 in Soweto.
But they also failed to advance in 2010 when they drew 0-0 with Gaborone United away from home and were then held to a 2-2 draw at home in the same competition to bow out on the away-goals rule. That is perhaps their danger this weekend too.
In the other two previous instances where they drew 0-0 in the first leg away from home, they advanced.
They beat Diables Noirs from Congo 1-0 in the second leg of their Confederation Cup tie in 2021/22.
They repeated the feat against FC Disciples from Madagascar in the 2024/25 Champions League, winning handsomely 3-0 at home after a goalless first leg.
The other instances where they advanced after drawing the first leg away included BCC Lions of Nigeria on their way to the African Champions Cup title in 1995, when they won 1-0 at home after a 1-1 draw in Nigeria.
They repeated that pattern against Mufulira Wanderers from Zambia the following year, following a 1-1 away draw with another 1-0 victory at home.
Pirates also drew 2-2 away to Gabonese side FC Mounana in the 2015 Confederation Cup before winning the second leg 3-0.
If you include all ties in which Pirates drew the first leg, whether at home or away, the record is not quite as impressive. There have been 15 previous instances and they advanced on eight occasions, or 53% of the time.
