Part one of the two-part match quarterfinals series between Sounders FC and Liga MX side Tigres UANL will commence on Wednesday at 6 pm PT at Estadio Universitario, San Nicolás de los Garza, Mexico. Leg two will be seven days later, on April 15th, at Lumen Field, with a scheduled 8:30 pm PT kick-off.
Two-legged matches can be tricky, and teams often overthink the competition. The result is to have scored more goals than your opponent. Yes, away goals matter, but it will be a balance between scoring goals in attack and defending, so your opponent doesn’t score the same or more goals than you.
TOUGH ENVIRONMENT
Tigress is coming off a dominant performance against MLS side FC Cincinnati in the Round of 16. After losing the first leg 3-0 in Cincinnati, Tigres came home and took care of business, scoring five goals and conceding one to advance with a 5-4 aggregate score. The high-scoring Mexican side is led by Uruguayan international Rodrigo Aguirre, who scored a brace and had an assist in Tigress’ demolition of FC Cincinnati. Aguirre has scored four goals in the competition, which is one behind tournament leader Gabriel Peck of the LA Galaxy’s five goals.
“ That was a very good game against Cincinnati here, because losing three nothing in the United States to come back here and to go forward, we understand the challenge that we face,” said Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer. If we can get a good result, a positive result, uh, that is, again, the objective, but we understand it’s gonna be hard, and the game will be exciting. I think it’ll be fast because we didn’t come here to defend, like, maybe Cincinnati. We’re gonna try to score a goal if we can. So let’s see how the game progresses.”
STAY COMPACT, RESOLUTE WHEN DEFENDING
To have any chance to advance and make next Wednesday’s game meaningful, the Sounders will need to continue to play resolute defense. The Sounders have recorded a clean sheet in their last six games. Five of those six games have been wins, but against MLS opponents. The last team to score on the Sounders was the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Sounders’ 2-1 win over the Canadian side in Leg Two of the Round of 16. The Sounders won the round with a 5-1 aggregate score. Schmetzer will be looking for a balance between defending and clinical finishing from his club, which has a 26% goal conversion rate. The 26% conversion rate is the third-best in the tournament.
“It’s our training habits. It’s what we do every day. It has been focused and concentrated in the game, in that one moment,’ said Albert Rusnack,
But, you know, as far as why it seems to be going in, I don’t know, I guess, you know, we’re training well, and hard every day, and, you know, how you train is ultimately how you play.”
EXPERIENCE WILL BE A FACTOR
The Sounders have shown early in the season that they can get a result in several different ways. While the way they have achieved the outcome has varied, what has not is the team’s resolute, steadfast defense. The team has stayed compact in defending to guard against counterattacks and filled the pockets when attacking.
“ Well, you have to stay compact. You know, we don’t want to get this game to be, you know, a transition game up and down the field. Again, we saw what happened to Cincy when that happened. So we’ll still press high in the right moments. We’ll stay on our mid-block. But we’ll obviously keep the team compact,’ said Schmetzer.
“ We have talented players, but also sometimes it’s good to be lucky. And, you know, your luck always evens out at the end of the year, right now. We’re being put under some pressure. We haven’t taken many goals, and, you know, the one chance we get, the last game, Paul’s there to stuff at home, and we win one nothing in Houston. So sometimes that’s just the way the game goes. But sometimes you make your own luck as well.”
BIG TAKE
Schmetzer also mentioned that his club will need to concentrate for a full 90 minutes in both games. With no health issues and most of the players rested, Schmetzer can be creative with his starting XI and substitutions. Look for him to roll out an experienced line-up to start the game. The match will be fast-paced and physical. The team with the fewest mental errors on both ends of the pitch will leave Mexico with a result. The Sounders don’t have to win the game; they cannot lose the series in game.
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