América and Chivas Clash Again in High-Stakes Concacaf Champions Cup Decider

The much-anticipated match between América and Chivas marks their third encounter in a week, this time with a spot in the quarterfinals of the tournament at stake. As they head into the return leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16, both André Jardine, coach of Las Águilas, and Gerardo Espinoza, leader of El Rebaño Sagrado, are expected to field their strongest line-ups in pursuit of advancing in the region’s premier club competition.

Chivas holds a slight advantage over América after securing a narrow win in the first leg of the Round of 16. The initial clash between the Rojiblancos and Azulcremas took place last Wednesday, ending with Chivas on top thanks to an unfortunate own goal by Sebastián Cáceres in the closing minutes. With this deficit in the aggregate score, América is compelled to chase victory to avoid another disappointment in the Concachampions.

Line-ups for the América vs. Chivas showdown are as follows:

América: Luis Malagón; Kevin Álvarez, Sebastián Cáceres, Israel Reyes, Cristian Borja, Diego Valdés, Alejandro Zendejas, Erick Sánchez, Álvaro Fidalgo, Brian Rodríguez, and Henry Martín.

Chivas: José Rangel; Alan Mozo, Gilberto Sepúlveda, Miguel Tapias, José Castillo, Mateo Chávez, Luis Romo, Rubén González, Roberto Alvarado, Fernando Beltrán, and Alan Pulido.

The decisive return match between Las Águilas and Los Rojiblancos will kick off on Wednesday, March 12, at 8:30 PM Mexico City time (10:30 PM Eastern Time, USA). André Jardine has attempted to alleviate some pressure from his squad by reminding fans that they cannot expect triumph in every tournament in which the team competes. Meanwhile, Gerardo Espinoza has emphasized that for Chivas, this second-leg battle against América is the most crucial game of their season so far.