When the New York Red Bulls defeated Club Tijuana 2-0 at Estadio Caliente in the opening leg of the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals, they made history. The Red Bulls were the first MLS side to win a knockout stage match in Mexico and the first team to ever win there by multiple goals.
The result reverberated throughout North America and helped catapult the Red Bulls into the semifinals for the first time in club history. But it also made their next opponent, Chivas de Guadalajara, take notice and there will be no surprises when the teams meet Wednesday night at Estadio Akron for the first leg of their semifinal.
“We are happy to be in the semifinals and we are aware of what the New York Red Bulls are as a team,” Chivas defender Oswaldo Alanis told New York-area reporters on a conference call Wednesday. “Today we talked with [coach] Matias [Almeyda] and he told us about their strengths, how fast and unbalancing their players can be. We have to work hard for our offensive strategy. We know what New York Red Bulls are capable of and what we are going to face.”
While the Red Bulls were making history in Tijuana, Chivas suffered a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field in the opening leg of its quarterfinal. The front page of Mexican sports newspaper The Record had the words “insulting and unacceptable” over a picture of Sounders’ star Clint Dempsey with his finger over his mouth.
For Chivas, the defeat came on the heels of a 0-0 draw against Club America in a thrilling Clasico Nacional that appeared to all but knock them out of playoff contention. But a stunning 3-0 victory in the second leg against Seattle rejuvenated Chivas, and the club went on to defeat Morelia, 2-1, and move two points out of the final playoff spot.
A team once up against the ropes in Seattle now is brimming with belief as it prepares to take on the Red Bulls.
“Winning against a team like Seattle, which has very good players and plays very well at home, gave us motivation as well as confidence that Chivas is improving,” Alanis said. “The team has been improving and we believe that we are going in the right direction and we are going to do everything to win and get ahead in this game.”
[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”26″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_imagebrowser” ajax_pagination=”0″ template=”default” ngg_triggers_display=”never” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]
Alanis said he is aware of the storyline of MLS bridging the gap with Liga MX and he’s seen the league’s improvement first-hand. He was with Santos Laguna when it defeated the Sounders 2-1 on aggregate in the 2012-13 CCL semifinals en route to a second consecutive appearance in the finals.
“The difference at that time, which I think was three, four years ago to now is very big,” Alanis said. “I think the league is growing a lot and I think they have proved it. Now they are competing just like the Mexicans. In my opinion, it is a league that is very strong and that it’s increasingly generating more competition at a better level.”
That said, Alanis doesn’t feel additional pressure to stem this tide of momentum MLS is riding. There’s enough pressure to just wear the Chivas shirt, he said.
“We do not see it as pressure, but as a challenge to reaffirm what Mexican football is and what an all-Mexican team represents,” Alanis said.
Chivas has not conceded at home in the CCL. The club beat Dominican Republic minnows Cibao and the Sounders by a combined 8-0. However, in both of those series, the Goats were home for the second leg.
That’s different this time around. Being solid defensively against a Red Bulls team that has three away goals and hasn’t lost in the CCL remains a priority for Chivas, and it knows handling the Red Bulls’ high pressure will be key.
“There are teams in Mexican football that use this strategy,” Alanis said. “The best way is to start good to break that pressure. We should keep focused always to get out of that pressure that they normally put.”