Alajuelense begin Champions Cup journey in New England

MIAMI, Florida – 2023 Concacaf Central American Cup champions Alajuelense of Costa Rica will begin their journey in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup with a Round of 16 first leg date against the New England Revolution on Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

These two sides have met before in Champions Cup play, as they were opponents in both the 2003 and 2006 editions. On both occasions, Alajuelense emerged with the series victory with a combined record of 2W-1D-1L and they will be looking to improve upon that on Wednesday.

Alajuelense qualified directly for the Round of 16 as champions of last fall’s Central American Cup and now one of the most talented sides in the Central American region will target a deep run in the Champions Cup.

It is their 27^th appearance in the tournament, with two of those ending with Alajuelense lifting the trophy in 1986 and 2004.

GK Leonel Moreira is set to appear in his 10^th different Champions Cup, while another veteran, MF Celso Borges, will have to play an integral part of the Ticos’ success. Borges led all players in passes in the Central American Cup with 530.

In attack, Alajuelense have a plethora of options, led by Joshua Navarro, who led the side in assists in the Central American Cup with four, while also scoring three goals.

New England counter with a squad that was very impressive in eliminating Panama’s CA Independiente 4-0 on aggregate in Round One with two clean sheet victories (1-0 and 3-0).

Tomas Chancalay was one of the leaders with two goals, while midfield maestro Carles Gil served as the primary playmaker. Gil took five shots against CAI and had an assist, giving him three career Champions Cup assists in four matches.

The Revolution also have a dangerous striker in Giacomo Vrioni, who set the table as well for teammates against CAI with a pair of assists.

Match Officials New England Revolution (USA) vs LD Alajuelense (CRC)

REF:         ADONAI ESCOBEDO (Mexico)

AR1:         JORGE SANCHEZ (Mexico)

AR2:         ENRIQUE BUSTOS (Mexico)

4TH:         VICTOR CACERES (Mexico)

VAR:        OSCAR MACIAS (Mexico)

VAR1:      TRISTLEY BASSUE (Saint Kitts and Nevis)