Apologies for not posting anything before the first leg of the Champions' Cup final, but I had a dinner engagement that I could not break. As you all know, Pachuca and Saprissa drew 1-1 in Costa Rica, and the decisive match is in Pachuca tomorrow night. Costa Rica's Nación and Al Día have previews of the big match here and here; on the Mexican side, Medio Tiempo and Esto have previews as well.
Two of the storylines surrounding the second leg are the cold weather and the low ticket sales. As of today only 4,000 tickets have been sold (Pachuca has 5,000 members -- season-ticket holders, although it encompasses more than that), but the club officials were nonetheless confident of a big crowd. As for the weather, the game time temperature is expected to be around 15 degrees Celsius, which might give Pachuca a bit of an advantage.
Tomorrow night's match is Pachuca's biggest of the year. They've had an inconsistent season and entered the playoffs of both short tournaments through the wildcard route. Even so, they have a very experienced squad that is used to playing big international matches. Saprissa by contrast have been very successful this season; they won the Apertura tournament and are leading the overall standings in the Clausura. This will be their second CONCACAF final in the last four editions.
I think Pachuca have the advantage but I expect Saprissa to sit back and play a counterattacking game. With the lack of the away goal tiebreaker, there's not much of an incentive to do anything else. In the end, the experience of Pachuca will make the difference as they close the CONCACAF Champions' Cup with their third CCC trophy.
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