With Kaizer Chiefs reaching their first cup final in six years, there is a common feature about rivals Orlando Pirates' last five cup finals that should make the Naturena-based outfit fearful.
Ahead of another instalment of the Soweto Derby between the two giantss, this time in the Nedbank Cup final, Pirates will naturally be considered favourites considering that in all the five cup finals they reached since Jose Riveiro took over, they have a 100% winning record.
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Chiefs, meanwhile, are still itching to erase the bad memory and embarrassment of being humbled by then second-tier TS Galaxy in the competition's final in 2019.
Tactically, the technical team led by Nasreddine Nabi will be analysing closely their old foes' matches in cup finals since 2022, to ascertain how they have behaved under the Spaniard.
However, they will find it hard to find weaknesses when it comes to Bucs' character in their last five cup finals. That they managed to win three of those finals coming from behind is a key finding.
Pirates had to show their mettle in the 2023 Nedbank Cup final against Sekhukhune United, where Sibusiso Vilakazi opened the scoring early on. However, Tapelo Xoki equalised in first-half stoppage time, with Terrence Dzvukamanja going on to net the winner in the dying minutes.
In last year's Nedbank Cup final against Mamelodi Sundowns, Riveiro's troops also conceded first, early in the second stanza via Themba Zwane. However, Patrick Maswanganyi levelled matters from the penalty spot with 19 minutes to go and Relebohile Mofokeng clinched a famous winner in added time.
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During their 100% cup final win ratio under the outgoing coach, the side has also faced penalty shootouts, defeating Sundowns 3-1 in the 2023 MTN8 final, and have also closed out a game from the first half, after Saleng's 25th minute curler in the 2022 MTN8 final was enough to hand them the victory against AmaZulu FC.