The last place team in Group 1 of the CONCACAF Champions League, Club Aguila, will face Santos Laguna in a very difficult match this Wednesday, September 19, 2012 (10:00 PM EDT) at the Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador. The Salvadorian squad is six points behind Santos in the group, and it is eliminated from any possibility of qualifying to the next round. On the other hand, Santos Laguna is a strong team that last year lost the final against Monterrey. With a promising start that already includes a perfect two victories, the game against Aguila should not impose any real threats to their qualification.
Club Aguila is one of the few unfortunate teams this Concachampions that has suffered from the new format in which the groups only have three teams, and where only the first place qualifies to the next round. With two games left, Aguila is almost eliminated as they would need to win their next two games, score a high amount of goals beat Santos in the goal difference, and hope neither Santos nor Toronto F.C. win any of their next two games. Therefore, Aguila does not have much hope, but nevertheless, the team lead by Victor Coreas will have the opportunity to play a good match at home and a victory will serve as a consolidation victory.
The 2012 runner-ups, Santos Laguna, will visit the difficult ‘Cuscatlán’ where Mexican teams have had a history of extreme opposing-crowd pressure, and at times, aggression. With that in mind, Santos has a difficult match in front of them where a victory seals their pass to the next round; the Mexican squad has six points and a large goal difference of +7. For this match, Santos will use an alternate team, but although players like Oribe Peralta or Darwin Quintero will not see play time, this is still a very talented squad who has the ability to win in El Salvador.
Prediction: Aguila will play for the fans and for their pride, but nothing else as winning the group is a far possibility. On the other hand, Santos plays their pass to the next round, and with an alternate team, they will attempt to gain the three points. The Mexican squad is favored to win this match, and surely they will, due to with a strong defense and an offense that includes USMNT striker Herculez Gomez. The final score will be Santos 2-1 Aguila.
Television: The Aguila vs. Santos team will be shown this Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 10:00 PM EDT on Galavision.
