🏆 In CCC semis, pressure is on for first-leg hosts
With away goals still a factor, anything is possible - but the trends say it's go big or get bounced
It is not a hard math problem, but reporters in Nuevo Leon seemed to be making sure both managers could do it all the same. 90+90=180. Yes, that’s right. By virtue of being two matches, both the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal series will run 180 minutes (plus stoppage, but that’s just complicating things).
Tigres manager Guido Pizarro cited the number 180 in four consecutive answers. His Cruz Azul counterpart Vicente Sanchez wasn’t tested as often. Yet, no matter how much the coaches spoke about taking the big picture ahead of their semifinal tonight (10p ET TUDN/FS1 in the U.S., TV Azteca/Tubi in Mexico), there is something they can not avoid about the tie.
The truth, which the managers, the reporters, the players and the fans all know, is the first 90 minutes in both semifinal series are going to be crucial. Tigres need a win at home to head into the second leg with confidence.
The quarterfinals showed the Vancouver Whitecaps what Inter Miami can do with a second leg in Florida, turning a 1-0 loss to LAFC into a 3-2 aggregate win.
The Caps must use the advantage of BC Place, its turf, the Southsiders and the huge distance from Miami. They’ll know they can’t keep making things tough on themselves with first-leg draws before second-leg draws large enough to move through on away goals in Mexico in both of the previous rounds.
Even for other Liga MX teams, it’s not so easy to win on the road against top clubs.
Tigres have been superb at El Volcan, winning every match there since Pizarro took over as manager. Cruz Azul come in on a heater, though, undefeated in its last 15 matches - dating back to a defeat at El Volcan prior to the managerial switch.
“I understand it’s 180 minutes. I also understand that Wednesday is important because we’ve got our fans - who have been present at all our last games and together we’re very strong,” Pizarro said in the prematch news conference. “I understand, though, that these games are about the details, about managing both games. Hopefully we start well Wednesday.”
More interesting than whether the managers of Tigres or Cruz Azul can do simple addition is the fact that they’re both here in the first pace.
Pizarro was playing for Tigres, going a full 90 in Jornada 9 and moving into the technical area ahead of Jornada 10. Since then, Pizarro not only has managed to put together the second-most points in Liga MX during that stretch but also is perfect at home in both league and CCC play.
Sanchez was running Cruz Azul’s U-23 when first-team manager Martin Anselmi decamped for Porto and took most of his staff with him. The former Uruguay international became the interim and has La Maquina aiming for not just the CCC but also another Liga MX crown.
“There’s motivation, and we emphasize the fact that it’s now three tournaments in which we’ve been a top team, trying to get better each time,” Cruz Azul captain Erik Lira said Tuesday. “I think we’ve been on an important journey, and there’s no way to finish it other than winning both titles. We’re extremely convinced we can achieve that. We all believe it. Tomorrow is the first battle.”
That first one will be key. Though Cruz Azul has played its home matches this season at the CU, Pumas’ home stadium, they have been dominant in the second legs they’ve hosted - even against crosstown rival América. Lira working as the libero has helped Sanchez’s side keep defensive solidity while also being able to get La Maquina’s wingbacks forward quickly as they transition from defense to attack.
Both managers insisted they would be true to their styles and established ideas in the first leg, but it would be no surprise to see Cruz Azul content to head to the capital with no advantage, banking on a great home showing.
Tigres, though, will almost certainly look to replicate what they’ve shown in their last several matches. Andre-Pierre Gignac is back training with the team after weeks out with an injury, but don’t look for the veteran forward to get many minutes in this tie.
“We’re going to do what we always do, try to be on the front foot, control the game. We’ve improved in attack, generating chances, and hopefully tomorrow we keep seeing that,” Pizarro said. “They’ve got established players who invite you to get into these one-on-one duels and it’ll be a match that’s like that - a well-fought game with two teams that want to play soccer. Hopefully it’s a good spectacle.”
After a quarterfinal round that saw little drama in the first legs only for the second legs to be worthy of staying home the next day because of #CCCFever, the importance of the first leg to both home teams this week should give fans exactly what Pizarro - and everyone in the Concacaf region - is hoping for - exciting matches and a spectacle we all can enjoy.