As discussed this week, Monterrey came out with an aggressive 3-5-2 and attacked Chivas voraciously. After an early Ramón Morales goal, this approach provided rich dividends and countless scoring opportunities. The match certainly had its controversial points, notably the penalty that Chupete scored from, a horrible foul late in the match by Omar Bravo and that Ramón Morales (36th minute) and Patricio Araujo (74th minute) were both red-carded.

One major concern was Humberto Suazo who left the match mid the second half with a injury to his left thigh. The team Physician, Dr. Raul Pedro Moon, commented that the injury is day to day but his return for Saturday is in doubt. The same can be said for Walter Erviti,who suffered an ankle injury. I will update as soon as information is available.

This Saturday the step towards the Copa continues and maybe then the Fútbol Asociación will begin to understand what a grave error it was not to have Ricardo Lavolpe lead El Tri.

After a week off, the team has been experimenting with a more offensive formation and there has been some rumbling of dissent between Ricardo Lavolpe and Humberto Suazo. Although the rumors have have come and gone quickly, tactical decisions are crucial with matches on Wednesday (@ the Tecnológico in Monterrey) and Saturday (@ Estadio Jalisco).

A key to the Rayados success will be controlling set plays by Chivas, reducing the defensive lapses that have plagued them, off-setting the Chivas home-pitch dominance and the mid-field readying the table for counter attacks by Humberto Suazo and Jared Borgetti. Whether the new formation that will see Robert de Pinho center Suazo and Borgetti remains to be seen but this is certainly the most tactically exciting of the Liguilla.

This is a peculiar time to face América, as their season has been a frightful mess where they have only eight points to show for the campaign and miserable negative sixteen goal differential in what is clearly their worst season on record. They are winless in their last five matches in the Primera División, with a 13-3 combined score and it is quite obvious that the strain of playing in the Copa Libertadores has weighed heavy on them. It won’t be any easier today with them facing Flamengo in the second leg of this round in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday as well and that must be in the back of their minds as well as their tactical play. While naturally this appears to be the best possible time to face them, based upon performances such as River Plate in the Copa, they cannot be underestimated and must be marked tightly, specifically in set-plays.

However, that being said I expect the Rayados to come out with a full three points and for Suazo to add to this thirteen goal total.

Monterrey came out very aggressive and struck early with a deft chip by Suazo at the eighteen minute mark. Although they pressured constantly it wasn’t until Suazo’s stunning second goal just before the half that they took a 2-0 lead. However after the half Atlante pressured hard and scored very early to narrow the deficit. After trading a series of goals, Atlante looked very close to adding the equalizer but Monterrey was able to hold them at bay.

Next week the Rayados are off to play América.

Highlights are below. Make sure to check out the the second goal by Humberto Suazo from an impossible angle.

This is a key match for the club as a victory can add distance away from Atlas which has a very tough test against San Luis that is complicated with a series of injuries and a short week in which they played Colo Colo in the Copa Libertadores Tuesday. Considering Santos poor away record, a victory this weekend could see the Rayados within a few points of the top spot of Group 2. To be successful they will need to overcome their anemic offensive weakness on the road and voraciously attack Atlante, which has cleaned-up its porous defensive problems recently.