MIAMI, Florida – Both Liga MX side Pachuca and Motagua of Honduras will have scoring goals on their minds when they face off in the second leg of their 2023 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 series on Thursday night at the Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico.
The two teams played to a 0-0 draw last week in the first leg in Honduras, so something has to give ahead of Thursday’s contest, which will conclude the Round of 16.
This will mark the fourth Concacaf meeting between the two clubs, and in the previous three only one goal has been scored. That came in a 1-0 Pachuca home win in the 2008 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals.
Five-time Concacaf champions Pachuca have a habit of defending their home soil in Concacaf play. The Tuzos have amassed a 24W-2D-0L record in front of the home fans, with 62 goals scored and just nine conceded, and in the SCCL era they have won their last five matches at home.
A plethora of attacking threats is at Pachuca’s disposal, including Luis Chavez, Aviles Hurtado and Mauricio Isais. In the first leg, Chavez led the team in passes completed with 61, Hurtado had two shots and Isais had a shot, to go along with two clearances and two ball recoveries.
Motagua will be trying to snap a four-game goalless streak in the SCCL, and they can look to their 2018 SCCL campaign for inspiration.
In that year’s Round of 16, the Hondurans earned a 1-1 draw away at Mexico’s Club Tijuana. If they can earn that same scoreline on Thursday, they will advance to the final eight.
Fresh off of making seven saves in the first leg, GK Jonathan Rougier will need to deliver another top performance, as will defensive anchor Carlos Melendez, who led all players in last week’s first leg matches in ball recoveries with 10.
