Santos Laguna - Penarol

Copa Libertadores 2014, Group Stage

Santos (-1 AH) @ 1.87, 4/10
Result: 4-1, WON

Santos Laguna - Aguila

CONCACAF Champions League, Group Stage

The Mexican champions, Santos Laguna, are debuting in this year's Champions League group stage, against a team that is already in deep trouble. Aguila played a match already, and they failed miserably, being trashed 1-5 at Toronto. That should say a lot about their quality, and don't be surprised if we see a similar scoreline today. Santos wants to make a solid debut in this competition, and everybody knows that you need to take all the points on your home ground in order to qualify without many complications. That is why they will be fielding quite a strong line-up, at 90% I would say. Just two of the players from today's expected line-up can't be considered as regulars, but except for them, Santos is going strong. Another weak point for them would be the absence of their 2 top strikers: Darwin Quintero (25/11) and Oribe Peralta (22/15), who will be replaced by Candido Ramirez (2/0) and offensive midfielder Christian Suarez (26/5). This makes me lower the stakes a bit (I would have gone full stake with the two strikers on-field), but even with this line-up, they should still be a few classes better than the Salvadoreans, and I expect a win by a minimum of 2 goals. GL!

Santos Laguna (-2.25AH) @ 1.80, 4/10

Result: 5-0, WON

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

Santos Laguna - Olimpia

CONCACAF Champions League

One thing is certain in this Champions League: the Mexicans bring profit, so we'll back both teams from this country in the Preliminary round. Herediano clearly showed last night the huge difference in quality between some of the teams, as they beat a team from Guyana 8-0. This probably won't be the case in this match, as Olimpia is one of the best non-Mexican teams from the competition, but still, they should be 2 classes below any Mexican team, including Santos Laguna. However, Olimpia are rather poor travelers, and aren't in such a great form as to put any problems to Santos in this first leg. Santos knows they will have a tough away match, so they should focus on getting as big an advantage as possible in this match, so they can take it easy in Honduras next week. And they certainly have the power to do so, especially after a confident performance in the league, where they've beaten Pachuca 4-1 last weekend. The handicap isn't very big for this match, and I think that a 2-0 win should be a minimum here, but of course, the score could get even bigger, depending on how good Santos feels on the pitch. GL!

Santos (-1.25 AH) @ 1.67, 5/10

Result: 3-1, WON

Santos Laguna - Columbus Crew

CONCACAF Champions League

Both teams will play for the position of leader in their group, as both have 3 points after the first match day. Santos Laguna, using an alternative squad, managed to destroy Joe Public with a 5-2, away, and it's likely that the same players will take the field today to face the Americans, as the coach already expressed his desire to use Concachampions to give some playing time to the less used players in the league. And while their previous result shouldn't count for much, as Joe Public is a very poor team, the fact that today play on their home ground should give them the advantage (because as we know, no MLS team has ever won in Mexico). And Santos' squad should have enough quality to win even with a second-string team.

The Crew will also mix it up a bit, and will miss some very big and important names, like Schelotto (top scorer with 6 goals), defender Chad Marshall (17/1), midfielder Danny O'Rourke (14/0), regular goalkeeper Hesmer and defender Gino Padula (12/0). All of them are important absences for the Americans, and it again settles the balance in the Mexicans favor, despite the alternative team that they will also use. However, some other important players (Eddie Gaven, Bryan Carroll, Eddie Gaven, Emilio Renteria) are expect to play a big role in today's game, and that makes me limit my stakes, as they are capable of causing some sweat to the Mexicans. But, normally, Santos shouldn't have much problems. GL!

Santos Laguna (-1.25 AH), Pinnacle, 3/10

Result: 1-0, HALF LOST