Alan Mojo from Guadalajara brawls for the ball with Jonathan Rodriguez (R) from the United States during the semi-final match of the Mexican Clausura tournament played in Guadalajara on May 18, 2023.
Monterrey and America, the two best teams in Mexican football in the regular stage of the Clausura-2023 tournament, will try to confirm their passes to the finals this weekend when they face Tigres and Guadalajara, respectively, in the return matches. semi-finals.
– One goal will be enough –
At the Universitario Stadium on Wednesday, Tigres earned a 1-1 draw against Rayados del Monterrey with a goal from Sebastián Córdova, who had taken the lead from a free kick taken by Argentine Maximiliano Meza.
The second leg will be played at 7:06 pm local time (01:06 GMT on Sunday) at the BBVA Stadium on Saturday, where in the event of an overall tie, Rayados will have the tiebreaker for best position in the table. After finishing as leaders with 40 points while the Cats were seventh with 25 points.
“We will try to win, not draw,” warned Monterrey technical director Victor Manuel Vucetich. “With the support of our people, the team will have to provide for itself in the best possible way.”
The Cats’ obligation is to beat Rayados on tour by at least one goal. In the regular stage of the tournament, Monterrey lost twice in their stadium.
Tigres’ Uruguayan coach Robert Dante Sieboldi predicted their opponent would play the second leg with caution.
Sieboldi said, “Emotional control is important, knowing how to manage the game, timing, rhythm, a good reading of the game and when we have control, scoring goals,” Sieboldi said that “I don’t think that they will go in search of a target when they have an advantage.”
– For some goals –
Chivas del Guadalajara’s position is more complicated as they need to beat Aguilas del America by a two-goal margin after losing 1-0 on Thursday at Akron Stadium with a goal from Alejandro Zendejas.
The second leg of this tie will be played on Sunday at 8:00 pm local time (02:00 GMT on Monday) at the Azteca Stadium, where America lost only one game in the regular stage, it was against Pachuca 3–0.
“We’ve won one game, missing one more game on Sunday and we have to go out like that,” said Argentina’s Fernando Ortiz, America’s technical director. “We have to focus, because if we don’t, we’re going to have a bad time.”
For its part, Guadalajara won five visiting games in the regular stage, but only one with the two-goal margin it needed to advance to this Sunday’s final.
“The first part is over, the second is missing, I want whoever gets on the plane with me to give it everything. You have to believe, the holy herd is a believer. The issue of faith is the most important”, the Serbian said. Commented Veljko Paunović, technical director of de las Chivas, as an opportunity for revenge and an obligation to come back.
