Aug 17, 2011

Santos Laguna - Real Espana

CONCACAF Champions League, Group Stage

First match of the CONCACAF Champions League group stage, and we'll have a Mexican team against a Honduran team. This may all seem too familiar, as Santos Laguna has already played in the preliminary round against Olimpia, also from Honduras, and they managed to qualify after a 3-1 home win, despite losing 1-2 in the return leg. And that's how the story with Honduran teams goes... they can be very tough opposition when playing on their own turfs, but go through a transformation if they are to play away. Just for the record, in the preliminary round, Motagua lost 0-2 in Nicaragua (they were already qualified after a 4-0 in the first leg). In the 2010 group stage, Marathon lost all 3 away games (at Monterrey 0-2, Saprissa 1-4 and Seattle 0-2) with Olimpia losing 0-4 against Toluca in Mexico, while in 2009, Marathon lost at DC United 0-3 and at Toluca 0-7, with Real Espana also losing all their travels, including against UNAM Pumas, 0-4. So, the quality difference is obvious, and even though Honduran teams are ok compared to most of the other CONCACAF teams, the Mexicans still hold a comfortable lead in terms of quality, and this should go as an easy home win. GL!

Santos (-1.75 AH) @ 1.80, 5/10
Result: 3-2, LOST

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