Concacaf Champions Cup | Quarterfinals | Leg 1
New England Revolution vs. Club América
Tuesday, April 2 | 9 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium | Foxborough, Mass.
Watch: FS2 (English), TUDN (Spanish)
Listen: 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
15th in MLS Eastern Conference (0-4-1, 1 pt.)
Last Result (MLS) | 1-1 draw vs. Chicago Fire FC
Last Result (CCC) | 1-1 draw at LD Alajuelense
Nacho Gil’s first MLS goal helped the Revs come from behind to claim their first point of the MLS campaign in a 1-1 draw with Chicago Fire FC on March 23 at Gillette Stadium. New England have conceded the first goal in each of their five league games, a fact that head coach Caleb Porter emphasized in his postgame remarks, highlighting that his side needs to find a way to get out in front of their opponents.
The Revs – powered by leading scorer Tomás Chancalay (four goals) – have managed to do just that in Concacaf Champions Cup, scoring first in all three of their wins in the competition. That includes victories of 1-0 and 3-0 over Panamanian side CA Independiente in Round One, and a 4-0 win over LD Alajuelense in the Round of 16. The Revs conceded first in the return leg of that series in Costa Rica, but Giacomo Vrioni responded to claim a 1-1 draw and 5-1 win on aggregate.
Club América
1st in Liga MX Clausura (8-1-4, 28 pts.)
Last Result (Liga MX) | 2-1 win vs. Atlético de San Luis
Last Result (CCC) | 3-2 loss vs. Chivas de Guadalajara
Reigning champions of Liga MX, Club América are once again on top of the Clausura standings following this past Friday night’s 2-1 win over Atlético de San Luis, stretching their unbeaten run to six games (4-0-2) in domestic competition. After putting together a 12-1-4 record in the Apertura campaign, América are now 8-1-4 in the Clausura, compiling a combined mark of 20-2-8 in the 2023-24 season. Perhaps most impressive has been their defensive record, conceding a total of just 21 goals in those 30 games.
América have reached the quarterfinals of Concacaf Champions Cup with a pair of hard-fought victories over Real Estelí and Chivas de Guadalajara. Las Águilas opened the competition with a 2-1 loss in Nicaragua, but recovered with a 2-0 home win to advance past Real Estelí in Round One, 3-2 on aggregate. América then ran up against their biggest rival, Guadalajara, and used a 3-0 road win in Leg 1 to close out a 5-3 aggregate victory despite a 3-2 loss in the second leg.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution forward Tomás Chancalay
With a trip to the famed Estadio Azteca looming in the return leg, the Revs will be trying to build whatever advantage they can in Tuesday night’s meeting in Foxborough. Part of that equation will be keeping the visitors off the board – away goals serve as the first tiebreaker – but the Revs will also need goals themselves, and Tomás Chancalay will be a key figure in that quest.
Chancalay has scored in each of the Revolution’s three victories in Champions Cup, bagging four goals total to tie Philadelphia’s Julián Carranza for top scorer in the tournament. While the 25-year-old forward has yet to score in league play this season, he has fired off 26 shots, just one behind Dénis Bouanga (27) and Cucho (27) for the league lead entering this past weekend.
América forward Henry Martín
Club América boast an array of attacking weapons, but any preview of Las Águilas would be remiss not to mention Henry Martín, who ranks eighth all time with 96 goals in 242 appearances for América. The 31-year-old has been with América since 2018, and he’s been particularly prolific the past two years, racking up 41 goals in 73 appearances since the start of the 2022-23 season.
Martín has also been a regular with the Mexico National Team since making his debut in 2015, scoring nine goals in 43 appearances for El Tri, including a goal in Mexico’s 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He also started and played the full 90 minutes in Mexico’s 2-0 loss to the U.S. National Team in the Concacaf Nations League Final on March 24.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revolution head coach Caleb Porter on having extra time to prepare for Club América:
“It's been nice to have training, as always, and a little break too. What we went through with eight games in 24 days was a gauntlet, very difficult. And then you can see guys were chewed up mentally and physically. And I think that's been a big part of the issue in the league. We haven’t been fresh or have had time to prepare. We have put a lot into the Concacaf Champions Cup, as well. Sometimes it’s hard because you’re high and then you’ve got the league, and you think you’ve got all these games and it's early, maybe the urgency is lacking so, we've managed the Champions Cup well and not the league. It was nice to have a couple of weeks just to reset, recharge, and prepare. In a lot of ways, as a coaching staff, look at our group, we might have this vision of what we want to be and maybe we need to adjust that vision. The long-term vision won't change but the short-term might, based on just knowing our group now after three months, so we had a lot of time to just reflect. Now playing Club América, you know it's going to be arguably the best game we play all season. One of the most talented teams you're ever going to see in this continent. A true positional play team, a team that dominates games with the ball and presses very high and plays extremely aggressive with or without the ball. It's a huge task for us. We are getting a little healthier, which helps because we're entering another window where we're playing four games in 13 days coming up. So, we're going to need those bodies.”
Porter on how the bye week in league play has helped the club in preparation:
“It was good to have a little bit of a reset and have time to recharge and to work on the training ground. Sometimes you don't like not having a game on the weekend because you lose rhythm. But in our case, I thought it was beneficial for us based on all the games that we've been playing to have that time. But you said it, the mentality is really crucial for these types of games. I told the guys when we showed video on Club América, I told them that this is going to be one of the best teams you’ll ever play. So, we have to believe we have a chance, and our guys do, but we know it’ll be very difficult and it's going to be a very good opponent. Can we get an advantage in this first leg? That's the key. Can we get an advantage going back to Azteca next week? That's the goal. The goal is to get an advantage.”
Porter on competing against Club América for the first time in club history:
“I think it's interesting, you’re starting to see MLS teams a little bit more beating the Liga MX teams, but not as much as you'd like. And I think it's because of talent for sure, but I think it's the mentality, I think it's being able to take the field with belief. I was a part of a Campeones Cup versus Cruz Azul where we won 2- 0 in that match, and we had a realistic plan for the game and our mentality was right for that game. And I think that's the key. In that game, we had a group that understood the type of game that we needed to play. And so, they were bought into that understanding of what would work in the game and what the game was going to be about, and they had the right mentality to then go and attack that game and in the right way. We can't be naive in this type of match. We need to be very pragmatic and intelligent in how we approach it.”
Revolution captain Carles Gil on balancing MLS play with Concacaf Champions Cup:
“Obviously it’s difficult because it’s the start of the season to play many games every few days, it’s never easy, traveling obviously, but we are happy because we are playing in a big tournament. We are in a good position, and we are going to play with a big team. It’s what we want.”
Gil on having to close the Quarterfinals with a road game in Mexico in Leg 2:
(Translated from Spanish)
“Playing a home game always brings a difference in that you don’t have to travel, deal with weather factors, and such. They have to deal with that here and we have to deal with that there in Mexico. In the end, it’s a two-leg elimination series. Hopefully this game [tomorrow] gives us an advantage. We know they’re a great team and one of the favorites in the tournament. We know we have loyal fans and they’re going to make it tough for them to play on our home field. Our mentality is to make sure they’re not comfortable so we can bring an advantage in the series to Mexico.”
Gil on how the team has prepared for Tuesday’s game:
(Translated from Spanish)
“This past weekend we were on a bye week [in MLS], so we had time to prepare well. We’ve worked well knowing that Club América is a great team, but like every team they have areas for improvement. Our intention is to be dangerous in those areas and be strong here at Gillette. We know we haven’t had the results we’re hoping for in the league, but we want to be dominant and take advantage of the spaces they leave for us in the back.”
