February 10 – Favourites Monterrey go into the home leg of their tie with CSD Xelajú M.C. tonight (Tuesday) knowing the Guatemalans will be motivated from the first leg which they feel they should have won.
The drama came late in the 1st leg of the round one Concacaf Champions Cup time between Xelajú and five-time champions CF Monterrey.
Playing at the Estadio Cementos Progreso in Guatemala City, the home side struggled against an experienced Monterrey side that has surprisingly been struggling in the Liga MX. Rayados shrugged that aside and dominated proceedings in terms of territory until the 83rd minute when Joffré Escobar’s far-post header deflected past Santiago Mele.
With a shock result on the cards, Jesús Corona produced one of the goals of the round with a twenty-yard howitzer to tie the game up in the 92nd minute, giving Monterrey the edge as they head back to Estadio BBVA.
Led by the widely experienced Domènec Torrent Font, whose managerial career has spanned Europe, Asia, South America, and now Mexico, the man who once assisted Pep Guardiola will have the benefit of the away goal and home support in a tie that has all the makings of a banana skin.
With one of the deepest squads in the competition Rayados, in theory, should be able to handle this second leg, but do know, one goal could completely upend their plans and send the tie into the kind of chaos Torrent Font is looking to avoid.
The Guatemalans will be looking for Raúl Calderón to have the same impact he had at home as his marauding runs down the right-hand side cause confusion all night for the Monterrey backline.
February 11th – 2nd Leg: CF Monterrey (1) vs (1 ) CSD Xelajú M.C.