Los Angeles (USA), June 3 (EFE).- After the favorable 2-1 first leg, León will try this Sunday to finish off the job in the final of the Concacaf Champions League at the expense of Los Angeles FC (LAFC) who, with the Mexican Carlos Vela at the helm, will look for a comeback in their field to win the title.
The BMO Stadium in the Californian city will host this Sunday from 7:00 p.m. (02:00 GMT on Monday) the closing of this final that comes with an extra prize, since the winner, in addition to the trophy, will take a pass to the Club World Cup in FIFA.
This is the first Champions League final for León while LAFC, which began competing in the MLS in 2018, will have its second chance to win this tournament after losing in 2020 for the title with Tigres UANL.
There is a precedent that excites LAFC to trust in the comeback.
Precisely in that 2020 edition, the Los Angeles team met León in the round of 16, fell 2-0 on Mexican soil and later turned the tie around with a 3-0 home draw.
León is motivated to return the Concacaf crown to Mexico after the Seattle Sounders beat Pumas UNAM last year to become the first MLS champion in this competition.
Until then, Liga MX accumulated 16 consecutive victories in the Champions League.
The Guanajuato team dominated LAFC in the first leg and went 2-0 in the first half with goals from Colombian William Tesillo and Ecuadorian Ángel Mena.
However, León missed a more resounding result given his superiority on the pitch as he conceded a goal in the 96th minute from Denis Bouanga.
“We are very convinced that we are in a position to play a great return game and to close the job very well,” the León coach, Nicolás Larcamón, pointed out at a press conference this Saturday.
The Argentine coach defined LAFC as “a good rival, a demanding rival”.
“It’s a team with important names, without a doubt, but it also has a collective structure that validates performance not only by name,” he said, referring to Vela.
The person in charge of León confirmed that the Colombian Yairo Moreno, who withdrew due to injury in the first game, will not be available in the second leg but avoided confirming if his substitute, as happened in the first leg, will be the Mexican Elías Hernández.
The winger warned that LAFC is very dangerous and pointed out that they have to be “an aggressive team” to subdue the Angelenos.
“In a play, where they caught us off guard, they scored a goal for us. We know they have that ability. But we can’t focus on what Vela or the rest of his players do. We have to focus on what we have to do,” said Hernández.
Vela admitted that LAFC did not have a good first leg and was confident that his fans could boost them in this round.
“I think none of us can say that we played a good game. Maybe John, our doorman (…). I don’t know exactly why, but of course we played, pardon the word, a shitty game”, Vela pointed out.
“The only positive thing is that we only came down one goal and we have to take that as an opportunity to play better football and defeat León,” added the LAFC star, saying that his rivals could have scored “four or five” in the match. gone but they left them “alive”.
Vela urged his teammates to “give the maximum” from the beginning and to play all “together as a team and helping each other.”
“We are 90 minutes from a title, it is in our hands, we play at home and in front of our people,” he summarized.
“We are a great team and, if we are at the level we know, I think we will have a chance to win the title,” Vela closed.
– Probable alignments:
Leon: Rodolph Cota; Ivan Moreno, Jaine Sweeper, Adonis Frias, Osvaldo Rodriguez; Fidel Ambriz, Lucas Rosemary, Angel Husband, Victor Davila, Elijah Hernandez; Lucas Di Yorio.
Coach: Nicolás Larcamón.
LAFC: John McCarthy; Ryan Holingshead, Denil Maldonado, Aaron Long, Diego Palacios; Ilie Sanchez, Timothy Tillman, Jose Cifuentes; Denis Bouanga, Carlos Vela and Opoku Kwadwo.
Trainer: Steve Cherundolo.
Stadium: BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
Time: 7:00 p.m. (02:00 GMT on Monday).
