Xolos enter the second leg of the quarter-finals with a 3-0 lead against Cruz Azul

On By Littum

Credit: Jeremy Collins (XoloGuero)/EVT Sports
Credit: Jeremy Collins (XoloGuero)/EVT Sports

Game: Cruz Azul vs. Tijuana Xolos

Where: Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, Mexico City

When: Saturday 30 November 2024

Time: 5:10 PM PST

TV: Univision, TUDN, VIX

The Tijuana Xolos will face Cruz Azul in the second leg of this quarterfinal clash on Saturday, November 30 in Mexico City.

The first game of this series resulted in a shocking 3-0 victory for the Border City Dogs in a match where Cruz Azul was heavily favored.

The huge three-goal advantage now comes into play as Cruz Azul would need to win this match by a three-goal margin or more to advance. It seems like an almost impossible task, but La Maquina defeated the Xolos 3-0 when they played in the regular season. Club Tijuana are far better at home than away, but they don’t need to win this match to advance.

Raul Zuniga, Efrain Alvarez and Emmanuel Reynoso scored the goals in the first match leading to this massive win. Manager Juan Carlos Osorio has been experimental all season and has kept it up in the playoffs. In the first match, the defenders Unai Bilbao and Rafael Fernandez played at some points in the match on the striker.

Alejandro Gomez played at left back against Cruz Azul and in the previous match against Atlas was in midfield. Osorio believes in using his entire squad and rotating players in different positions on the pitch.

These tactics have proven to be very effective in this playoff for Club Tijuana and it will be exciting to see Xolos’ lineup in this game. Raul Zuniga is clearly the standout player for the Xoloitzcuintles recently, with four goals scored this postseason.

Cruz Azul had the best offense in the Liga MX regular season with 39 goals scored and will need the attack to step up in this game. Cruz Azul had 27 percent possession and no shots on target in the first leg at Estadio Caliente, and that must change in this second leg. Jorge Sanchez’s red card certainly played a part in the poor offensive production too Los Celestes and he will not be available for this match.

It will be interesting to see how Martin Anselmi lines up as Cruz Azul will need to be aggressive from the gate. Los Cementeros must also be almost perfect defensively as a goal by the Xolos will mean the home side need at least four goals to advance.

Club Tijuana laid everything out to advance to the semifinals in the first leg, and if this was another team in the league, there would probably be 100 percent confidence. However, this Cruz Azul team proved to be the best in the regular season and certainly has the skills to score the goals they may need.


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