THE difficulty of the task facing Orlando Pirates in the second leg of their African Champions League semifinal is laid bare in Esperance's remarkable home record in the tournament.

It would be fair to say that the Tunisian club have turned their Stade Olympique de Rades into a fortress, having suffered just three defeats there in their last 60 home matches in the CAF Champions League dating back to 2001.

The last of those defeats came against Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the final of last year's competition, when they were surprising 2-1 losers.

Aside from that hiccup, they have won each of their last 13 home games and conceded just five goals in the process, keeping a clean sheet in 10 of those matches.

The other defeats both came against Egyptian opposition - they lost 2-1 to Zamalek in 2005 and 3-1 at home to Ismaili in the semifinals of the 2003 tournament.

The only team to keep Esperance score-less on their home patch in over six years and 28 matches in the Champions League is Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca, who escaped with a 0-0 draw in August 2011.

Esperance are gunning for their fourth Champions League final in a row, a run that has been built on their ability to pick teams off at home. They beat Wydad Casablanca in the 2011 decider, a 1-0 home win in the final enough to seal the trophy after a 0-0 score in the first leg away.

They lost to DR Congo's TP Mazembe in 2010, though, and last season were surprise losers to Al Ahly having done the hard work with a 1-1 away draw, only to suffer that rare home defeat.

They will also gain some confidence from last year's semifinal against Mazembe. They drew 0-0 away in Lubumbashi, only to win the return 1-0 in Tunis. Pirates will hope the same scenario does not play out this year.