After successfully making its historic first appearance in the Champions Cup of the North, Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation (Concacaf) against Nashville SCHe InterMiami From Lionel Messi the quarter-final match will begin this Wednesday at 9.00 pm in Fort Lauderdale against a rival, a priori, more challenging: its opponent will be the Mexican Monterrey, winner of five editions of this competition, which has a strong Argentine imprint in its squad .
The Rayados arrived at this stage of the so-called Concachampions with an almost perfect performance: they won the four matches, with 10 goals in favor and 2 conceded. They beat Comunicaciones of Guatemala in the first round with an aggregate score of 7 to 1 and left FC Cincinnati of the United States on their way to the round of 16 (3 to 1 overall).
The cast of the capital of the state of Nuevo León is directed by Fernando Ortiz from Córdoba. The former player of Boca, San Lorenzo and Racing, among other clubs, took charge of the team in May 2023, after parting ways with América, which he had managed for 15 months. In his first competition with Rayados, the Apertura 2023, his team finished second in the qualifying stage, but lost in the quarter-finals to Atlético San Luis.
Ortiz and two of his assistants (field assistant Nicolás Sánchez and goalkeeping coach Fabián Donelli) are not the only Argentines in the team, which also has four players born in the country, all with a good participation in the Albiazul team: the archer Esteban Andradathe midfielders Jorge Rodriguez AND Massimiliano Mezzaand the attacker German Berterame.
In addition to them, Monterrey has four men from the Mexican national team (Gerardo Arteaga, Jesús Gallardo, Luis Romo and Érick Aguirre); with a history of three, captain Héctor Moreno (played four World Cups); and with some very good foreigners. One is Spanish Sergio Canales, who played almost 400 games in his country’s league with Betis, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Real Madrid and Racing de Santander. Another is the attacker Brandon Vazquezthe team’s top scorer this year (he has eight), born in Chula Vista (California), is the son of Mexican parents and represents the United States team.
The Rayados team landed on Monday morning at Fort Lauderdale international airport, a few hours after suffering their first defeat of the year: on Saturday evening they lost 2 to 0 in their own stadium against Chivas de Guadalajara, managed by Fernando Gago, in a match corresponding to the 13th round of the Liga MX Clausura Tournament which the local team completed with only nine men due to the expulsions of Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Arteaga.
That setback ended the Monterrey team’s 16-match unbeaten streak in 2024 (they had achieved 12 wins and 4 draws between the national tournament and the European Cup) and forced them to cede the lead in the competition to America : Even if both add 28 points, the Capitalians have a better goal difference (+14 vs. +13). In any case, the Clausura will not be defined once the 17 dates scheduled for the qualifying phase have been completed, but rather the final phase will be played subsequently, in which the top 10 of the initial group will compete.
Contrary to logic, the defeat was almost welcomed as good news by Fernando Ortiz. “The fall was good for us because sometimes a good slap implies certain things in this sport and it was a good moment for what happened to us to happen to us. It’s a result that hurts, but it’s good. I have never emphasized the fact that I am undefeated”, underlined the coach born 46 years ago in Corral de Bustos after the match against Chivas.
The first opportunity to see the impact of that slap will be this Wednesday against Inter Miami at ‘Chase Stadium’. In this duel Ortiz will not be able to count on the Colombian full-back Stefan Medina, suffering from a muscle problem in his right thigh which prevented him from travelling, and on the Uruguayan striker Rodrigo Aguirre, sent off during the first leg of the round of 16 of the European Cup against FC Cincinnati and received a five-match suspension (he only served one).
“It’s a very important match for us”said Esteban Andrada upon his arrival in Fort Lauderdale. In any case, the former Lanús and Boca goalkeeper focused not only on what will happen this Wednesday, but also on next week’s rematch at the BBVA stadium in Guadalupe, in the Monterrey metropolitan area: “It’s 180 minutes, no. We betray ourselves in just one game, so we have to be smart and keep the series open. Hopefully we can compete and get a good result. And if we can score a goal, the better.”
The good performance in Liga MX, beyond last weekend’s defeat against Chivas, is not the only support of Rayados, who has a much more successful and successful history than Inter Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup (and of its precursor, the Champions). League). The Albiazul team he won this title five times: He won three consecutive years, in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and was also crowned in 2019 and 2021. Only América (seven) and Cruz Azul (six) have won the subcontinental trophy more times. Furthermore, Monterrey has the best points percentage in the history of the Cup (74%) and is the team with the most victories in knockout matches (27).
These are not the only numbers that Monterrey can boast of in this competition: they have reached the quarter-finals all seven times they have played there, they have won five times against a Major League Soccer team in the knockout phase. , have never lost a first leg match in the knockout rounds (they have won 14 and drawn 4) and have achieved six wins and a draw in their last seven away matches. For all of this, A win for Inter Miami this Wednesday would not only swing the series in their favor, but it would also be a huge blow to the statistics.
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.