Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night will kick off the quarterfinal round of the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) against Mexican powerhouse, Tigres UANL at the Estadio Universitario.
RSL MUST BE WARY OF THE TIGRES LETHAL OFFENSE
Real comes into this match as underdogs and might have too tall of task to complete to possibly advance to the semifinals. The club they face knows how to scores goal by the numbers. The Liga MX season is only seven games in and Los Universitarios have already scored 13 goals. Seven different players have scored for Tigres thus far.
However, the Liga MX club is led by 30-year-old Frenchman, André-Pierre Gignac. The former Marseille forward has already scored seven times in seven games for Tigres. He recorded a hat-trick against second place Club Leon on January 31st.
The defenders of RSL have definitely not faced a forward like him in the preseason. Royals’ manager Jeff Cassar will need to think of game plan on how to stop him without creating gaps in the defense for others to take advantage off.
Tigres still has Brazilian forward Rafael Sobis, Mexican international Jurgen Damm and more players to keep an eye on during the match. The one break RSL has received before the match begins is that Mexican international Javier Aquino will not participate in the first leg. Tigres announced on Tuesday that his absence was due to the tendonitis in his leg.
A SMALL WINDOW OF HOPE FOR RSL
That being said there is some hope for RSL, and that is because of the defense of Los Universitarios. This season in Liga MX they have allowed nine goals. Out of the four Mexicans club left in the CCL, they have conceded the second most goals in the domestic league. The only club that has allowed more is Queretaro FC with 11 in seven matches.
Regardless of that weakness, RSL will need to do something that they struggled to do in 2015 and that was score goals. Last year in Major League Soccer (MLS) Salt Lake managed to score 38 times. Only the Colorado Rapids finished with fewer goals in the entire league with 33. In the CCL, they scored the least amount of goals of the clubs that advance to the quarters, with four. The second least was Tigres with five in four matches.
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For Real Salt Lake to have any chance in this match, Yura Movsisyan must be active and find a way to break through. Also whether Joao Plata starts the game or not, he will find some minutes. Right away, the pesky and fast five-foot-three-inches winger will need to cause havoc for the defense. However, before Movsisyan, Plata or any of the forward has a good game; RSL will need the midfield to take control.
The best way to eliminate Tigres attack is by controlling the possession and forcing them to chase the ball. How does that happen? RSL veterans Kyle Beckerman and Javier Morales will need to be aggressive, but more importantly they cannot commit careless turnovers if they want to win the battle of the midfield.
BEING RELASTIC AND KNOWING NICK RIMANDO WILL HAVE TO BAIL OUT RSL AGAINST TIGRES
However, since the match is in Mexico, RSL will most likely be forced to rely on counters to potentially score. With that fact, the most important Salt Lake player becomes U.S. international goalkeeper, Nick Rimando. He will need to play above his normal high standards to keep his club in the game, but with Tigres at home this might become a bridge too far for RSL to cross successfully.
Prediction: Tigres 4, Real Salt Lake 1