LAFC vs Cruz Azul
Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League (SCCL) Quarterfinals
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
7:30 p.m. PT
TV: FS2, TUDN
This stage was set once before. The Black & Gold were coming off arguably their most impressive win in Club history following their comeback victory over Liga MX powerhouse, Club León, who was recently crowned the Mexican champions on Dec. 13.
LAFC was getting ready for their first Concacaf Champions League Quarterfinal match at home against another Liga MX giant in Cruz Azul. However, the night before that match, March 11, 2020, the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz game at Chesapeake Energy Arena was postponed before tipoff after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. We all know what happened next. That Cruz Azul match never was played, and MLS and Concacaf competitions were postposed.
After nearly 300 days and a completed MLS Season behind them, Concacaf is ready to resume the 2020 Champions League, and LAFC is again set to take on Cruz Azul in the Quarterfinals of what is now a single-elimination tournament on Wednesday, December 16 at 7:30 p.m. PT at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, FL. It’s back to the bubble for the clubs, too. Concacaf introduced a centralized format and developed extensive new SCCL regulations to ensure the delivery of a safe and highly controlled environment for all the players, coaches, team staff and officials who will participate.
Though Cruz Azul commenced the 2020-2021 Apertura on strong footing and remained so throughout the majority of the season, they have had a rough go of late. “La Máquina” ultimately advanced to the Liga MX playoff semifinals against Mexico City rivals Pumas UNAM, and after leg one of the competition, found themselves in an enviable position leading 4-0. However, the second – leg, played last week, saw Cruz Azul falter in a 4-0 defeat at home, booting them from the playoffs in what club President Victor Velazquez called the worst loss in the club's history.
After the match, Velazquez said the club would take "radical and urgent decisions," and the world quickly saw what he was referring to, as the club and Head Coach Robert Siboldi parted ways a couple of days later. Moreover, Cruz Azul has also had to recently deal with bouts of coronavirus cases across the organization.
LAFC enters the tournament in a different position than their Liga MX opponents. The Club has had time to regroup in training and lick its wounds after they faltered against Western Conference rival, Seattle Sounders FC in Round One of the MLS Cup Playoffs. After months of struggling with injuries and uncertainty, LAFC now has key players back in training after recovering from injury and COVID-19 symptoms.
LAFC head coach Bob Bradley put it simply, “Good training and a good mentality -- those are the keys to being ready for a game, and you can sense with the group right now the motivation and the excitement. So, that's why I say that we're ready to get to Orlando and ready for Cruz Azul.”
CRUZ AZUL IN DEPTH
“La Máquina” have a strong, veteran team that has an incredibly dangerous striker in speedy Uruguayan international, Jonathan Rodríguez. Rodríguez led Liga MX in goals in 2020, making this a showdown of two Golden Boot winning strikers from Uruguay in Rodríguez and LAFC’s Diego Rossi. They have a solid spine of experienced players that execute well when compact. At the first sign of their opponent breaking, they drop quickly into a low block style. Stylistically, Cruz Azul fits within the common idea of a fast-paced, Liga MX style of play.
BACK TO THE BASICS
LAFC fans have seen the challenges the Club has had to deal with all throughout this year. And as 2020 draws to a close, the Club isn’t fully out of the woods yet, as it remains to be seen if key players like Brian Rodríguez will be fully fit for 90 minutes coming off of a positive COVID-19 diagnosis just a few weeks ago.
This is the closest LAFC has been to full strength since March, and for Bob Bradley and LAFC Co-President and GM, John Thorrington, this upcoming fixture is less about a tactical chess match than the Club really getting back to the basics and showing the world their best selves and what this year could have brought.
“We saw with the start of our season [in Champions League] what we were hoping to [this year] achieve,” said Thorrington. “I started off saying that we've underachieved in 2020 and it wasn't as good a year as 2019, but having said that – we played the best game of our history in February. That performance was better than any of the performances in 2019.”
Do the Black & Gold have another stellar performance up their sleeves?
LAFC WILL WIN IF...
Finally, LAFC has a healthy Carlos Vela, a fit midfield trio, and a cohesive backline that has had time to train together and further incorporate newcomer Jesús Murillo into the fold. If the Club can get themselves back to the sharpness they showed all the way in March, they will win this match.
CRUZ AZUL CAN WIN IF…
If any team is equipped to handle the current challenges of this moment, it is the experienced Cruz Azul squad. Yes, they just lost their coach. Yes, they’re facing personnel issues with positive COVID-19 cases. But one could also look at this situation as an advantage for “La Maquina” – all the squad has left is to leave it all on the field and try to regain some pride they lost after their stunning defeat in the playoffs. If they can stay organized and get the ball on the break to their fast attacking core, they can find victory.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT…
· It will be the first time that Liga MX clubs have had to operate within a “bubble” atmosphere. It will be interesting if this element factors in as far as their mental preparation goes.
· LAFC this year has struggled defending set pieces in 2020, but it is worth noting that Cruz Azul has struggled this year in that area as well. Yet, LAFC finally has a lineup more equipped for set piece defending with Tristan Blackmon and Mark-Anthony Kaye back and Jesús Murillo’s aerial strength. In this matchup, set pieces may work in the Black & Gold’s favor.
· It still remains to be seen who will take over at the helm even in the interim for Cruz Azul, an interesting element to keep an eye on.
FINAL CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAFC ROSTER
Goalkeepers (3): Pablo Sisniega, Kenneth Vermeer, Phillip Ejimadu
Defenders (10): Tristan Blackmon, Erik Dueñas, Tony Leone, Diego Palacios, Eddie Segura, Mohamed Traore, Mohamed El-Munir, Jesus Murillo, Dejan Jaković, Jordan Harvey
Midfielders (6): Eduard Atuesta, Latif Blessing, José Cifuentes, Bryce Duke, Francisco Ginella, Mark-Anthony Kaye
Forwards (6): Danny Musovski, Kwadwo Opoku, Brian Rodríguez, Diego Rossi, Christian Torres, Carlos Vela
