Summary:
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We hope you enjoyed our coverage of Pumas vs Saprissa in the second leg of the Concachampions round of 16. Keep checking back on VAVEL.COM for updates throughout the day.
It's over
With this goal by José Rogério, the universitarios secured their place in the quarterfinals with a crushing 4-1 victory, in a match in which they were far superior to the Ticos.
90+4'
GOOOOOL! for Pumas, José Rogério de Oliveira Melo scores the fourth and definitive goal for the universitarios, after Mozo's pass, the Brazilian crosses the ball to the left post.
90'
4 minutes of compensation are added.
86'
Another change for the universitarios, Fabio Álvarez, who has a yellow card, comes off and José Caicedo enters. The second change was made by Juan Dinneno, who scored his brace, and José Rogério de Oliveira Melo was substituted.
83'
Saprissa substitution, David Guzmán exits, Víctor Medina enters.
82'
GOOOOOL! for Pumas, Juan Ignacio Dinenno appears again in the center of the box to head in and score his brace.
80'
Pumas substitute Leonel López González and Higor Meritão for Santiago Trigos Nava and Sebastián Saucedo respectively.
77'
After the goal, the coach begins to move his players to get the equalizer and send the team to penalties.
75'
GOOOOOL! for Pumas, Juan Ignacio Dinenno appeared in the middle of the box to receive the ball on his chest, turned and shot towards the left post.
73'
Yellow card for Fabio Álvarez of Pumas after complaining to the referee.
69'
Saprissa substitution, Marvin Angulo exits, Francisco Rodríguez enters. Higor Meritão limps off the field after a sprain.
65'
The locals start to retreat into their area to avoid a counterattack, but the atmosphere is still tense and they continue to reach the opponent's area.
60'
Pumas have had several opportunities to score the second of the match, but the goal has not been on their side, this result is to the advantage of the universitarios.
55'
First change of the match and for the Pumas, Diogo de Oliveira Barbosa comes on for Higor Meritão.
51'
GOOOOL! for Saprissa, Ryan Bolaños Davis appeared after a cross from a corner kick to volley the ball in the middle of the university area and slot the ball into the net.
48'
Second yellow for the universitarios, Arturo Ortiz after complaining about a previous foul.
45'
The second half of the second half of the Pumas' 1-0 victory over Saprissa (3-2 overall) begins, with the home side taking advantage of their home advantage and dominance.
45+1'
At the end of the first half, the universitarios take home advantage, being dominant in this first half, but the Ticos in the last minutes are looking for the equalizer that will give them life.
45'
First yellow for the universitarios, Leo López arrives late after sweeping Gerald Taylor.
One minute of stoppage time is added.
40'
Dinneno loses control of the ball after beating the opposing defense, missing an opportunity to be left alone in front of the goalkeeper and score.
35'
Saprissa missed the equalizer, after a mistake in the university defense, the forwards took advantage and were left alone in front of Gonzales, who made a good save.
30'
Second yellow for the Ticos, Walter Cortés after cutting off the rival's advance who was already on the counter, free kick in favor of the universitarios.
26'
First yellow of the match for Saprissa's David Guzmán.
24'
Julio Gonzales and Aubrey David collide after a free kick, medical assistance comes in to check.
22'
The pace has slowed, Pumas begins to keep the ball in midfield, showing confidence after the goal.
17'
The Ticos put pressure on the universitarios again, after a corner kick, González came out for the ball and let it bounce and the rival offense almost shot at goal.
12'
GOOOOL! for Pumas, on the second corner kick from the universitarios, Arturo Ortiz appeared to head the ball to the left post, opening the scoring.
8'
Saprissa's first attack surprised the universitarios, where the goalkeeper González left the ball to the Ticos, who shot again, but managed to send the ball to the corner kick.
3'
Pumas starts off very insistent in attack, having their second attack on the Costa Rican goal, but the ball ends up wide.
The match begins
The match between Pumas and Saprissa is ready, with a good attendance at the Olímpico Universitario stadium.
They take the field
Both teams take the field for the second leg of the Concachampions round of 16 at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario.
Respect for the rival
Pumas coach Andrés Lillini reiterated the great respect he has for Deportivo Saprissa, against whom they will face in the second leg of the round of 16. Being very clear about the power of the rival after the draw in San José, knowing that they will need to give their best performance.
"Today everything has evened out and if you are not at the height of the circumstances, it makes it difficult for us to go through, we know that we have to be at the limit at all times because if not Saprissa can beat us", explained Andrés Lillini.
He does not lose his quality
Before the match, the coach of the universitarios gave a lot to talk about, on this occasion he spoke about midfielder Christian Bolaños, mentioning that he is an outstanding player, with his presence and career behind him, concentrating on marking him so that they are not surprised as they were in Costa Rica, concluding that if their rival attacks them, they will hurt them because they are a good team.
At Liga MX level
Referring to the meeting between the university team and Saprissa, Andrés Lillini mentioned that the Tico team has the level or capacity to compete against any team in Liga MX.
He emphasized that they can play any team, based on results and the fact that Saprissa has already won the tournament.
Saprissa's starting XI
This is the starting XI with which Saprissa will take the field and look for the pass to the quarterfinals of the Concachampions and repeat the feat of 2005.
1️⃣1️⃣ inicial de @SaprissaOficial 🟣 para esta noche.#SCCL22 pic.twitter.com/LYUlOwoSsP
— Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (@TheChampions) February 24, 2022
Pumas' starting XI
This is the starting XI with which Pumas will take the field and seek to advance to the quarterfinals of the Concachampions, for which they must win or, if they tie, not go past one goal for each team, as a 2-2 draw would take them to penalties.
ALINEACIÓN📋
— Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (@TheChampions) February 24, 2022
¡Estos son los once elegidos de @PumasMX para el partido de hoy! 🐾#SCCL22 pic.twitter.com/dRDnSQwwiK
Pumas has many players
Andrés Lillini assured that he has many players available for the match against the Ticos, assuring that the entire squad has shown itself to be up to the task, where he will keep his word of finding reinforcements in the lower categories, needing them to adapt to the style of play.
Prepared for everything
The auriazul squad has several injured players, but defender Efraín Velarde emphasized that there should be no pretexts for giving their best performance, adding that injuries are normal and that players must be professionals and always be at their best level.
"As a professional soccer player you have to be prepared for everything, and it should not be an excuse to face each tournament, now we know about the casualties, but they are adversities that arise and we must overcome them in the best way, the coaching staff will make decisions to face each match, but they are part of the job and are not in our hands. We are physically and mentally prepared to face both tournaments, because that is the way it should be", he expressed.
Conviction to come from behind
Coach Iñaki Alonso said on Tuesday that Saprissa must add conviction to good soccer to take the lead against Pumas.
"We are facing a good team that we generated situations to win. The key will be to believe in ourselves, that there is always a chance to win by working as a team," he explained at a press conference.
They are preparing by watching videos
Argentine midfielder Mariano Torres, captain of Saprissa, admitted that the team is preparing for Wednesday's match by watching videos of the 2005 final in which they won the CONCACAF title at the felines' stadium. He added that it is a motivation to believe and trust, knowing that that has already happened, but that now they have the opportunity to beat the same team once again.
Torres warned that in order to beat a team like Pumas, it will be important to remain focused throughout the match.
Saprissa is looking for a midfielder
Although the transfer market has already closed and the next one is a long way off, the Morados have a clear objective for the next transfer market, Daniel Chacón. He is the player they are looking for and they have already started negotiations to get his pass so that he can start the Apertura 2022 with them. The young player has a contract with Cartaginés until June of this year, so Saprissa is taking advantage of this to start negotiating with him a very high contract that would convince him to join the Morados.
Stay tuned for Pumas vs Saprissa coverage of the match.
In a few moments, we'll share with you the starting rosters for Pumas vs Saprissa in the Concachampions as well as the latest information from the Estadio Olimpico Universitario. Stay tuned to VAVEL's minute-by-minute online coverage of the match.
What time is Pumas vs Saprissa match for Concachampions?
This is the start time of the game Pumas vs Saprissa of 23rd February in several countries:
México: 21:30 horas CDMX, Fox Sports
Argentina: 02:30 horas
Chile: 02:30 horas
Colombia: 21:30 horas
Perú: 21:30 horas
EE.UU.: 22:30 horas ET
Ecuador: 21:30 horas
Uruguay: 23:30 horas
Paraguay: 22:30 horas
España: 04:30 horas
Channels for Pumas vs Saprissa live
The match will be broadcast on Fox Sports channels.
Pumas vs Saprissa can be tuned in from the Fox Sports Play commentary.
If you want to watch the match online, VAVEL Mexico is your best option.
Antecedents
The most memorable meeting between the two teams was in the 2005 Concachampions final, where the Ticos came away with the trophy over the Mexican team, defeating them 2-0 in the first leg, but losing 2-1 in the second leg, leaving the aggregate at 3-2.
Pumas UNAM 2-1 Saprissa, 2005 final second leg
Saprissa 2-0 Pumas UNAM, 2005 first leg final
How are they coming?How are they coming?
Both teams tied 2-2 in the first leg, but in their respective leagues, the universitarios are coming from a goalless draw against Atlas, placing them in sixth place in the general table with 10 points.
Saprissa also drew goalless against Perez Zeledon in round 7, placing them at the bottom of the table, in 11th place with 5 points, where the table is of 12 teams.
Lilini warns
The Argentinean coach, Andrés Lilini, emphasized that they take care of the physical aspect after the matches to add concepts, especially now that they have matches every third day. Letting see what is his plan he has for Wednesday's starting eleven.
"We always finish games on the edge. We have a way of playing in which that aspect predominates. We have to recover. When matches like this come, we dedicate ourselves more to recovery than to adding things. We have to be in top shape for Wednesday. These are the same players who will be playing against Saprissa. When you have the head like tonight not to give up, you get the plus that the physical aspect is not enough," he said.
He does not believe that they will arrive
Andrés Lilini stated that they do lose offensive depth, but said that Galindo and Saucedo did not have a bad game in that area. He stated that they did lose offensive depth, but Galindo and Saucedo did not have a bad game in that sector.
"He is a man who brings us many things offensively. Of course, these situations are reflected in the game. He is going through a very good moment. We lost that situation and I tried to make up for it. Atlas plays with a line of five and I tried to do it with Galindo and Saucedo. We did it at times and I think we could have had a chance there. Favio Álvarez will be the one who can be recovered. The rest, I don't think they will make it against Saprissa," he concluded.
17 years later
In 2005, Christian Bolaños scored the goal that put Pumas in the Final of the CONCACAF Champions League at the Olímpico Universitario stadium. Seventeen years later, they met again, but in the round of 16, and Bolaños once again scored for the universitarios.
He scored the brace with which the Saprissa team achieved a two-goal draw in the first leg of the round of 16.
"I have been lucky enough to score three times. The team does a great job if you look at the squad and compare them, we are at a disadvantage, but it's soccer," he added.
Watch out for this Pumas player
José Rogério de Oliveira Melo has been fundamental with the universitarios up front in the Liga BBVA MX, fighting for the lead in the scoring charts with 4 goals in 430 minutes, being surpassed by Tigres' Gignac and Pachuca's Nico Ibáñez as leader.
Watch out for this Saprissa player
Christian Bolaños, the midfielder was fundamental in the first leg scoring the double that gave his team the tie, so it is expected that he will be present again and be crucial for his team, in the league he has played 26 games scoring 6 goals.
Be careful at CU
Pumas midfielder Leonel López highlighted the work of Christian Bolaños, assuring that the universitarios will have to be careful in the return leg at the Olímpico Universitario, mentioning that he is the one pulling the strings at Saprissa. Bolaños added that the universitarios will be all over them.
"We have to know how to suffer in the second leg, play an intelligent game and try to find that blow that will give us the confidence to win the series," he said at the conference.
With everything to eliminate Saprissa
The Auriazules have everything in their favor to eliminate Deportivo Saprissa, this Wednesday in the second leg of the round of 16 and thus secure their ticket to the quarterfinals. They will finish the series at their home stadium and have the away goal advantage after the 2-2 draw in Costa Rica.
They are undefeated in their last three games, winning against León, and drawing against Atlas and Saprissa.
Without their striker
Costa Rica's Saprissa is already in Mexico City for their match against Pumas, but they will do so without their striker, Honduran Darixon Vuelto, due to injury.
The new reinforcement of the Ticos suffered a torn left thigh in the last league game against Perez Zeledon, other players who did not make the trip were Ricardo Blando and Kendall Watson.
Welcome
Good afternoon to all VAVEL readers! Welcome to the Pumas vs Saprissa commentary, corresponding to the Concachampions. The match will take place at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario at 21:30.