Around six months ago, Tijuana found itself with a significant deficit in the 1st leg of the Liguilla quarterfinals. Leon, clearly hungry for an early
Around six months ago, Tijuana found itself with a significant deficit in the 1st leg of the Liguilla quarterfinals. Leon, clearly hungry for an early victory in the Apertura playoffs, dominated Xolos with a 3-0 win.
Tijuana fought back valiantly in the second leg, and collected an impressive 3-2 victory at home, but the blunders from the first clash proved to be far too detrimental. Despite the second-leg win, the No. 1 seed for the playoffs was knocked out in the first round.
Of the 14 Xolos players who took part in the initial 3-0 loss to Leon, six are likely to get the start against Morelia this Thursday. Well aware of the heartbreak and disappointment from last year, a strong core of the starting XI will be keen on avoiding another early setback in the playoffs.
On the sidelines, Tijuana manager Miguel “Piojo” Herrera has also recognized the lesson learned from their previous trip to the Liguilla.
“The away goal is the most important,” stated Herrera on Tuesday. “The position in the standings is second as the tiebreaker. We want to score goals on the road to take a good lead heading into the final game of the series.”
Can Xolos avoid another surprise defeat? Will the team walk away with a massive win?
Key to success for Tijuana — Shutdown Raul Ruidiaz
No player is more important to Morelia than Ruidiaz. With a total of nine goals in the Clausura, the Peruvian striker finished the regular season as Liga MX’s top scorer. In his last two matches, Ruidiaz has been on fire with four goals for Morelia, one of which was enough to save his club from relegation and secure a spot in the playoffs.
The 26 year-old is on an incredible form, and if Xolos wish to emerge unscathed from the first leg, they’ll need to keep the striker quiet for 90 minutes on Thursday night.
Tijuana player to watch — Aviles Hurtado
Now is the time for Hurtado to step up for Xolos. The Colombian has looked more reserved than usual in the past few weeks and must be Tijuana’s leader in the attack. Although Xolos have a few other options that can help find the back of the net, Hurtado will once again be Tijuana’s most important player and striker going forward against Morelia.
Predicted score — Morelia 1-2 Xolos
Despite the fact that the first leg is away, Tijuana is still the favorite here. There are a few worries with injury concerns that continue to haunt the backline, but the league’s most dangerous and effective attack should have no problem scoring against Morelia.
Keeping in mind that Herrera will be looking to push numbers forward for a valuable away goal, the manager might be aiming to close out this series early with a big win on Thursday.
Predicted Xolos starting XI
As mentioned earlier, some issues with injuries might complicate things here defensively for Tijuana. There are no indications that Michael Orozco will be ready for the first leg and Damian Perez has recently recovered from injury problems of his own. Although Perez appears likely to start, Xolos fans will keep their fingers crossed that he is 100% match-fit.
