MEXICO.- The Mexicans Toluca, Monterey and Tigers and the Americans LAFC and Inter Miami They start the week stalked by a serious threat, that of being eliminated in the rematches of the round of 16 of the Concacaf Champions Cup.
The return matches, which will be played between Tuesday and Thursday, are also marked by the possible signing of a milestone: the 900 goals as a professional for Lionel Messi.
Record to avoid embarrassment?
As a sign of his ambition to give Inter their first Concacaf title, the Argentine coach Javier Mascherano gave rest to the 10 in Saturday’s parity against charlotte in the MLS.
Already rested, the 38-year-old Argentine star should reappear on Wednesday at the “Garzas” home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to break the 0-0 tie in the first leg at the stadium. Nashville.
“We would have liked to score a goal to get an advantage, but it was important not to concede,” said the ‘Jefecito’.
Messi has 899 goals in his bag and will have his third chance against an American rival to cross a barrier already crossed by his great rival. Cristiano Ronaldo.
A great one leaves
The situation of Los Angeles FC in your key before Alajuelense of Costa Rica.
Co-leaders of the Western Conferencethe Angelenos tied 1-1 in the first leg at home with a goal from the Gabonese Denis Bouangaafter his South Korean star Son Heung-Min.
On Tuesday the Alejandro Morera Soto stadium, in Alajuela, will be the setting for the opening of the rematches.
“We tied the first game and it’s not the end of the world. I would be very worried if we didn’t have opportunities, but we generated many,” he said. Marc dos SantosCanadian coach of LAFC.
On the same day a Mexican giant will be out of the competition.
He Monterey of the Spanish midfielder Sergio Canales has the odds against him when he visits the Cuauhtémoc stadium in Puebla at Blue Cross.
In addition to being the defending Concacaf champion, the “Machine” leads the Mexican league, has gone 13 games without losing in both competitions and won at home 3-2 in the first leg.
“They left us alive,” he warned, however, Nicolas SanchezArgentine coach of Monterrey. “We are going to have a difficult time, but we are going to go for the classification.”
Operation come back
For his part, the Tolucatwo-time champion of the Mexican league, will have the challenge on Wednesday of recovering from the 3-2 defeat suffered in the visit to San Diego FCone of the debutants in this Concachampions.
“We played the worst game of the season,” admitted the Argentine coach Antonio Mohamed.
Since winning the international competition is its priority, the “Turco” presented an alternative starting eleven over the weekend at the rented venue to give its star team a rest.
“We are going with all the energy,” said Mohamed, confident in the advantages of playing at the Nemesio Diez stadium, whose field is located at more than 2,600 meters of altitude.
Also on Wednesday Mexico America will receive with a short lead of 1-0 Philadelphia Union at the Ciudad de los Deportes stadium.
The situation of the Seattle Sounders who, with a 3-0 in their favor, will host the runner-up Vancouver Whitecaps from German Thomas Müller.
Uphill
Among the five powers at risk, the Tigers of the Argentine attacker Angel Correa They have the most difficult mission: to recover from the 3-0 defeat they suffered during their visit to the FC Cincinnati.
The cats will try to get over the uncomfortable experience they had at the TQL stadium.
A day of work in Cincinnati for the American president, donald trumplast Wednesday, prevented the Mexicans from arriving in the city with a day’s notice.
“What happened on this trip is not normal, nobody thinks about the players,” the coach complained. Guido Pizarro. “Now we have to improve a lot on our return,” said the Argentine ahead of the duel at the Universitario stadium in Nuevo León.
The same day, Los Angeles Galaxy will visit the National Stadium in Kingston to close the key before Mount Pleasantwho in his first participation in Concachampions will look for a comeback with his full team.
The Jamaicans played the first leg decimated because several of their players did not obtain visas to enter USA.
