ESPN September 19, 2023, 10:46 a.m. Reading: 3 min.
The prospects for the Champions League look complicated for the Mexicans, who want to be entertainers but not protagonists of the tournament.
The Champions League phase will open its curtain this week and with it Mexican players will still take the stage to play a prominent role in Europe’s premier club competition.
In this 2023-2024 edition, there is little chance of seeing Mexican players in the most advanced rounds of the tournament. In the fan’s mind remains the memory of Rafa Márquez, when Barcelona lifted the “Orejona”, and of Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, who wanted to win the crown with Manchester United or Real Madrid. More recently, Hirving Lozano reached the quarter-finals of the tournament with Napoli.
Mexican players could become entertainers along with their teams as their teams are far from competing against the powers that are considered favorites for the league title.
Lozano at PSV, Santiago Giménez at Feyenoord and Jorge Sánchez at Porto are the Mexicans who will take part in this competition, but none of their teams are among the ten favorites to win the competition.
The top favorite for the tournament is champions Manchester City, the odds for Pep Guardiola’s team to win the championship twice are between +190 and +220. Behind them are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and even Barcelona, which has odds of +1400 to +1600 in the midst of its financial crisis.
Behind these greats are Arsenal, PSG, Manchester United, Napoli, Newcastle, the new millionaire of the Premier League, and finally Atlético de Madrid.
Faced with this daunting prospect of seeing a Mexican player become a Champions League champion, the Aztec representatives only have to be cheerleaders for the championship.
Hirving Lozano – PSV
He was the last Mexican to have a chance to become Champions League champions alongside Napoli, but this summer he took a step aside and decided to leave the team to sign for PSV in the Netherlands, where he became the goalscorer and idol.
The Farmers belong to Group B along with teams like Sevilla, Arsenal and Lens. A group that has a real chance of reaching the round of 16 and, with a bit of luck, advancing to the quarter-finals.
Santiago Gimenez – Feyenoord
The center forward and sensation of the Dutch team gets his first chance at Europe’s top club tournament. Last season he had his first contact with European tournaments when his team took part in the Europa League. His team was eliminated in the quarterfinals against Roma. The Mexican could do little after losing 4-2 on aggregate.
Now it seems possible to overcome the situation as they will face Atlético de Madrid, Lazio and Celtic in the group stage of the tournament.
Jorge Sanchez – Porto
The right-back will experience his first sporting revenge on the old continent. The footballer was excluded from Ajax for the current season, so he had to find a place in the Dragons team, a squad that had several Aztec elements and in which they achieved their best performance.
This is his second year playing in the Champions League. Last year he played for Ajax, but in the group they played against Napoli, Liverpool and Rangers. The Dutch could only prevail against the Scottish team and took third place in the table. They didn’t last long in the Europa League as they were eliminated in the round of 32 by Unión Berlin 3-1 on aggregate.
The Portuguese team is in Group H and has to face Barcelona, Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp.
