Wednesday, April 22, 2009

CONCA-Champions Final

Cruz Azul have a storied history, although the current Clausura 2009 season doesn't exactly show that. La Maquina are struggling in league, having won just twice in 14 games played. But Cruz Azul have a shot of making history as they could win the first-ever CONCACAF Champions League champions.

La Maquina will host Atlante in the CCL final tonight, the first leg of it anyway, and the series will shift to Cancun for next week's decisive second leg.

Cruz Azul have been piss poor in league, as have Atlante. But the way the tournament is set up, the winner will have several months to improve before the FIFA Club World Cup kicks off.

It's of little consolation to the teams' respective Clausura campaign. And the two teams have long ago written the season off. Atlante rested several key players in their game on Friday, a 2-1 loss at Tecos, while Cruz Azul have had a seemingly different focus on the CCL.

It's tough to predict this series, given the two teams' poor league form. Cruz Azul and Atlante each have done well to reach this stage, and each faced a difficult task in the semifinal series. Atlante needed a late penalty to beat Santos while Cruz Azul needed penalty kicks to knock out Puerto Rico.

Cruz Azul have the advantage tonight in hosting Atlante, and with nothing else to play for expect both teams to give all of their efforts to winning the CCL and at least walking away from these last months with something to show for their efforts.

1 comment:

rosyf said...

Cruz Azul *sighs*