Last night we were treated to quite a few wild games in North American soccer. It started with the Philadelphia Union 1-0 win in a nail biter. From there we got the Rayados versus Pachuca game that was contested for most of the matchup, but ended with a very lopsided score line. We flipped the channel to watch the roll coaster of emotions that was the LAFC – LA Galaxy game.
At the end of all that we didn’t want to make any judgments on a potential comeback by Rayados. Looking at the aftermath from last night now from afar, what are the keys for Rayados to come back in this series? Remember they need to win by 3 scores in their second leg game against Pachuca. That certainly seems like a tough ask, but Rayados is one of the best teams in Liga MX, and we’ve seen crazier things happen.
The Key Might Be With Pachuca & What They Are Going To Do
What could open the door for a Rayados comeback is an aggressive Pachuca. We might get to see that knowing how Memo Almada likes running his teams. This is a guy who was getting ready to throw hands with the Xolos manager because he was so offended that he was asked to let up after his team was beating them 4-0! If you’re not a fan of either team the best thing that we can have happen for the game to be interesting is for Rayados to find two early goals.
Rayados was the best defense in Liga MX throughout the regular season. They certainly didn’t look like it last night. They’re going to need to find a way to get back to that best defensive groove. Any goal by Pachuca would totally end the series right then and there. At least the first minutes of the matchup though can get really interesting.
Will Funes Mori Get The Start For Rayados?
There’s a chance that this will be the case. In fact fans are already speculating that Vucetich is going to find a way to start with Berterame, Aguirre, and Funes Mori. Funes Mori did not help himself by missing that penalty kick in the last game. In spite of this he hasn’t played all that poorly in his return. His time on the field during the Cruz Azul series was good. Vucetich can’t just look at the penalty miss, and say he doesn’t want to touch Funes Mori with a ten-foot pole. Needing so many goals to come back in the series there’s a good chance that he’ll give Rogelio the start.
Hard To See Rayados Keep A Clean Sheet
We actually wouldn’t be surprised if Rayados was able to score 3 goals. In fact, they should’ve scored three goals last night. That probably tells you all you need to know about their offensive capabilities. The reason why we ultimately don’t see them getting back into the series is because even though they were the best defense during the regular season, it’s hard to see them not conceding a goal against Pachuca. Rayados fans could argue that Andrada kept a clean sheet against Pachuca in the last game of the regular season.
That’s not a lie, it wasn’t too long ago that Rayados was able to keep Pachuca at bay. The problem is, they also went scoreless in that game. With the need that they have to score goals themselves it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to stay as solid in the back. As we just mentioned when Pachuca scores that goal it’s going to be all over. Just for entertainment’s sake we hope Rayados is able to get back within striking distance. That would make things interesting, but we don’t see them coming all the way back.
