Friday, October 29, 2021

Rayados Champions

 The final of the CONCACAF Champions League was again a contest between two Mexican sides: América against Monterrey. Neither team had ever lost a final. América are leading the Mexican league, and had won all their previous finals, but were playing in Monterrey, where the Rayados are notably strong (although they have not been looking strong this season).

But no statistics or history were obvious when the match got started: Monterrey attacked from the start and got an early lead by Rogelio Funes Mori, after a dreadful mistake in the clearance by the America defender Sebastian Cáceres. Funes Mori was in my view in a clear off side position when the pass was made towards him. But Cáceres failed clearance, when he touched the ball, seems to have nullified the pass, similarly to the situation when Mbappe scored in the recent Nations League final

I am still a bit taken aback by this new interpretation to the offside rules.

That said, 1-0 was enough for Monterrey to take their fifth CONCACAF Champions League title since 2011, and it was well-deserved in a match where they came closer to the victory than an America side that appeared far from its best form.

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