Pumas will be the representative of Mexico in the final of the 2022 Concacaf Champions League, in which their rival will be a team from the United States (Seattle Sounders leads 3-1 against New York City FC in the first leg semifinals) . The university students once again showed their claw and courage to get ahead and withstood a goalless draw against Cruz Azul at the Azteca stadium in the second leg of the semifinals, despite playing more than half an hour with a man less. Thanks to this, the aggregate was 2-1 in their favor.
The squad led by Andrés Lillini faced the second leg against Cruz Azul with a total offensive vocation. Contrary to some estimates that indicated that they would come out with a defensive approach to defend the 2-1 obtained last Tuesday in CU, their narrative was to insist on La Maquina’s goal from the first minute, with the offensive trident formed by Diogo de Oliveira, Washington Corozo and the striker, Juan Dinenno, who scored the winning brace in the first leg.
But the power of the Pumas was not only noticeable in their incessant offensive on the field, but also in the stands, since their traditional chants of “How can I not love you” and “Goya!” they monopolized the sound of the Azteca stadium during the vast majority of the game, minimizing the cheers in favor of the local team, Cruz Azul.
In Concacaf there is no rule that prevents the presence of visiting fans in the stadiums, as is the case in Liga MX as a result of the violent incidents that occurred in La Corregidora de Querétaro on March 5. That is why thousands of blue and gold shirts were present at the colossus of Santa Úrsula, despite being a Tuesday game at 9:00 p.m.
The expectation of a high influx was fulfilled. In total, the duel between Cruz Azul and Pumas received 56,094 people, the highest attendance at the Azteca stadium so far in the pandemic. By comparison, the 2021 Guardianes final between La Maquina and Santos Laguna received 21,016, while the 2021 Apertura final at the Jalisco stadium between Atlas and León received 54,089.
With a capacity of 69%, the semi-final return between cement workers and university students was a party of total jubilation. Chants, cell phone lights and even support, since the perception was 50-50 between fans of each team. The only stain was a discriminatory cry launched by the sky-blue fans against the rival goalkeeper, Alfredo Talavera, at minute 54, but which was not repeated and, therefore, it was not necessary for the Guatemalan referee, Mario Escobar, to apply Concacaf protocol to stop the match.
Although the match ended zero-nil, it was a back-and-forth battle that generated 29 shots in total (13 for Cruz Azul and 16 for Pumas). From the first half, the figure of Sebastián Jurado served to safeguard the blue goal, while Talavera extinguished any attack from his rivals with his experience and sobriety. Still, Alan Mozo saved Pumas from going down on the scoreboard in the 42nd minute by taking a shot over the line.
However, the clearest plays were for the university students: a disallowed goal by Fabio Álvarez in the first half for being out of place and a shot by Rogerio De Oliveira that hit the post at minute 97 were the ones that caused the most clamor in the public. , in addition to the fact that in the 76th minute the referee had signaled a penalty in their favor, but was later called by the VAR and retracted.
Pumas’ ambition was not defeated even when they had to play more than half an hour with one man less, since at minute 62 they suffered the expulsion of their central defender, Arturo ‘Palermo’ Ortiz, forcing the coach, Andrés Lillini, to readjust immediately with another defender (Ricardo Galindo), but sacrificing the creativity of his midfielder Leonel López.
Despite this disadvantage, Cruz Azul was not accurate in his attacks and could not cause greater danger to Alfredo Talavera’s goal, except for a couple of deflected shots. With the elimination, The Machine stringed together three consecutive editions of the Concachampions without being able to advance to the final: quarterfinals in 2020 and semifinals in both 2021 and 2022.
On the other hand, Pumas will play their fifth final in the zone and the first since 2005, when they lost the title against Saprissa of Costa Rica. Although the university team has three Concacaf stars, being the fifth most successful Mexican team in the tournament, their last championship was 33 years ago, when they defeated the modest Pinar del Río FC of the Cuban league in the 1989 season.
The group led by Argentine coach Andrés Lillini, in which elements such as Alfredo Talavera, Alan Mozo and Juan Dinenno stand out, will play their second final in the last two years, after losing the 2020 Guardians of Liga MX against León. To aspire to their fourth Concacaf star, Pumas will have to defeat either the Seattle Sounders or New York City, also seeking to maintain the streak of Mexican teams champions in the region, as they have won 17 consecutive seasons with that merit and direct pass to the Club World Cup.
To reach the 2022 final, Pumas beat Costa Rica’s Saprissa in the round of 16, MLS’s New England Revolution in the quarterfinals (overcoming a 3-0 first-leg loss on U.S. soil). and as the last step to Cruz Azul by global 2-1.