XOLOITZCUINTLES LOOKING FOR A SLOT IN THE SEMIFINALS
Club Tijuana hosts LA Galaxy in CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals second leg
TIJUANA –Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente faces the LA Galaxy for a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals when it hosts the Los Angeles Galaxy in the second leg of the quarterfinals Tuesday March 18 at Estadio Caliente.
The match closes out a home-and-home series in which the Galaxy comes in with a 1-0 aggregate lead after beating the Xoloitzcuintles 1-0 in the first leg March 12 at the Stub Hub Center. Club Tijuana is looking to get a step closer to the 214 FIFA Club World Cup.
Club Tijuana closed out preparations Monday for this match against the Major League Soccer team. Coach Cesar Farias went over the final details during Monday’s training session at Estadio Caliente.
Team captain Javier Gandolfi and striker Dario Benedetto talked about the upcoming match during a news conference.
“We are at 100-percent,” Gandolfi said. “We didn’t have the ball enough in the game over there first half we played over there, create scoring situations but in the second half we created more opportunities at goal. We can’t give away one minute over here in this second match. We have to come out looking to win the game. We know that we need one goal to tie the series but we can’t let time go by. We have to be smart and have possession, be balanced in the top three thirds of the field and the opportunities we get we need to turn them into goals.
“We depend on ourselves. We depend on the work we will do and we need to go out and get the result we want as soon as possible. There is no tomorrow, there is no more what if. We will try and win the game from the first moment.”
Meanwhile, Benedetto talked about the importance of being consistent on top and create good teamwork on defense to help increase chances to move on to the next round.
“We get to play an important game,” Benedetto said. “The team is prepared and motivated. “The forwards know that there were opportunities that slipped by in the last game. We also need to keep our goal clean.”
Both players recognized how important it is to have the fans support in the stadium to help try and get back in the series.
Tickets to this match continue Tuesday at the stadium box office starting at 9 a.m.
