Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Rulani Mokwena was not pleased with Orlando Pirates' physical approach in their game and his counterpart Jose Riveiro has responded.
Once again, the encounter between Sundowns and the Buccaneers over the weekend was dominated by a lot of physical battles than football on the pitch.
The Soweto giants rallied from a man and goal down to salvage a 1-1 draw against Masandawana.
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The heated physical battles could be seen as a sign of a rivalry that's heightening between the sides but Mokwena, speaking at the post-match press conference after the clash, says he doesn't want to be part of such skirmishes during the game.
"As long as they (Pirates) play on the pitch, as long as that is sorted out on the pitch, with football you know, I don't have a problem with rivalries, I think rivalries are good," Mokwena said to journalists after the draw.
"Rivalries are good for South African football and all over the world but they must be... I don't think we want to get to the scenario where we had in the El Clasico a few years ago where for 90 minutes you don't watch football, it's just handbags the whole 90 minutes and I don't think I want to be part of that, actually I know I don't want to be part of that," he said.
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Riveiro also had his say on the matter during the same press conference and suggested that the only way to be competitive against Sundowns is to raise the level of physicality.
The Spanish tactician also alluded that the Brazilians are not actually a "nice" side themselves, as their defensive game is on a high level.
"You cannot pretend to compete with this team. I'm not going to say when you're aggressive, I'm going to say if you're at the same level as them because, you can correct me I think Sundowns conceded (only) three goals in 14 league games," Riveiro said to the media after his side shared the spoils with the defending champions.
"If you're nice, you don't concede (just) three goals, it doesn't matter if that they used to have 70 per percent of ball possession. But the truth is Sundowns is exceptional defending, we always talk about them when attacking but defensively, they are a committed side.
"Physical players, there's not only technical talent but there's conditional talent as well, so the duels with Sundowns are something else," he added.
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