Tigres begin their quest for a place in the final of the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) for a fifth time in eight seasons when they host Club Leon in the opening leg on Tuesday at Estadio Universitario.
Los Tigres eased into the semis with a 6-0 aggregate win over Motagua, while Los Panzas Verdes took out the surprise story Violette by a 6-2 margin over two legs.
Match preview
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After a couple of years away from this competition, Tigres are back and look hungrier than ever to get their hands on this trophy for the second time in club history.
Robert Siboldi saw his team make it through a nervy two-legged tie with Orlando City in the round of 16, advancing on away goals, before taking care of the 18-time Honduran champions in the last eight, conceding just once so far, their fewest-ever at this stage of the competition since it was renamed.
While they are usually the aggressors with an up-tempo brand of football, their quality has varied depending on whether they are at home or on the road, scoring a goal or fewer in all but two away contests in all competitions this year, but managing to net six times in their last two matches played at Estadio Universitario.
They have never lost the opening leg of a CCL semi-final tie under its current name and have not conceded a goal at home in this round.
Los Auriazules have been piling up the numbers statistically, and their persistence has eventually paid off, firing six or more efforts on target in each of their four Champions League affairs, while having over 60% of the possession on three occasions.
Tuesday will be the first time they face Leon in this competition, having claimed at least a point in eight of the last nine meetings against them on their home field.
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La Fiera have missed countless opportunities to get into a quarter-final position for the Liga MX Clausura, but they seem to be hitting their stride in this competition.
Perhaps Nicolas Larcamon needs to get his players to treat domestic affairs like these one and done CCL fixtures, because Leon seem to look more dynamic with plenty of urgency in the Champions League.
The 2021 winners of the Leagues Cup have never made a CCL semi-final, but have been steadily improving each season, going from a round of 16 team in 2020-21 before losing to the eventual winners the Seattle Sounders in the last eight a season ago and knocking out the Haitians this time around to make the final four.
30 years ago (1993) Los Panzas Verdes finished second when this tournament was known as the Champions Cup, in what was then a final round format between four teams with the group winner earning the trophy.
Leon come into this encounter in poor form, winless in four successive matches in all competitions and without a road victory since edging Mazatlan 2-1 in the Liga MX Clausura late last month.
Although their track record away from home versus Tigres is not great, they managed to triumph in their previous visit to Estadio Universitario last September, winning 1-0 thanks to an own goal by Samir.
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Team News
We saw numerous new faces in the Tigres starting 11 from the opening leg at Motagua to the return fixture as Jesus Garza, Samir, Fernando Gorriaran and Sebastian Cordova replaced Jesus Angulo, Diego Reyes, Rafael Carioca and Diego Lainez in their April 13 triumph.
Andre-Pierre Gignac has 11 goals versus Leon, and he notched a brace in their previous CCL clash, with the other goals coming from Angulo, Luis Quinones and Nicolas Ibanez.
Nahuel Guzman is tied with Rodolfo Cota of Leon for the most clean sheets in the Liga MX regular season (eight) and has only faced three shots in two Champions League home fixtures this season, saving them all.
With a five-goal cushion heading into their second-leg tie versus Violette, Larcamon inserted numerous fresh faces into his lineup with Cota, Paul Bellon, Angulo, Lucas Romero and Brian Rubio being the only ones to keep their place in the starting 11 for each of those encounters.
Goals from Angel Mena, Lucas Di Yorio, Elias Hernandez and a brace from Victor Davila gave them a comfortable advantage heading into leg two versus the Haitians, while Rubio netted from the penalty spot in their 2-1 defeat versus Violette in mid-April.
Hernandez has scored four goals in these Leon-Tigres matches having featured for each, while Angel Mena scored twice to help them advance past Los Auriazules in the Apertura semi-finals back in 2021, before losing the two-leg final to Atlas on penalties.
Tigres possible starting lineup:
Guzman; Garza, Lichnovsky, Reyes, Aquino; Gorriaran, Pizarro; Lainez, Lopez, Quinones; Gignac
Club Leon possible starting lineup:
Cota; Moreno, Barreiro, Frias, Bellon; Davila, Romero, Angulo, Mena; Rubio, Campbell
We say: Tigres 2-0 Club Leon
Leon have come a long way in these international competitions, but they are facing a side who are familiar with this stage of the tournament that also look impenetrable defensively at home, and with a striker in Giganc who has feasted off La Fiera in the past.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
