Sebastián Jurado says Cruz Azul focused on Concachampions
After failing to reach the final of the 2020 Guardianes tournament of the Liga MX, Cruz Azul want to win the Concacaf Champions League to end the year on a positive note.
The Liga MX released a statement supporting Cruz Azul after they were accused by ESPN of possible match-fixing after the ‘Machine’ was eliminated by Pumas UNAM in the semifinals of the 2020 Guardianes tournament. Cruz Azul failed to hold on to the 4-0 lead and the Pumas were able eliminate them in the second leg.
A new opportunity
Now Cruz Azul want to forget about Liga MX elimination and focus on the Concacaf Champions League. The first leg of the quarter-final between the ‘Machine’ and Los Angeles FC was supposed to be played on 11 March 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was postponed. Last month Concacaf announced that the tournament was going to resume in December in a bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Nearly 300 days later, LAFC and Cruz Azul will face each other in a single elimination match on 16 December at the Exploria stadium. The Liga MX side has a certain disadvantage because head coach Robert Siboldi decided to leave the club after they faltered in a 4-0 defeat at home against Pumas in the semi-finals.
On top of not having their head coach, Cruz Azul has reported positive covid-19 cases and the interim coach will have to make adjustments to face LAFC, who have recovered all their players, including Diego Rossi, Brain Rodríguez and José Cifuentes.
With all these problems, the goalkeeper from Cruz Azul, Sebastián Jurado, has assured fans that they are fully focused in the Concacaf Champions League match against LAFC and they want to end the year on a positive note.
“We have to keep looking forward and face each game like our last one, because we know we are obligated to win the tournament. We have a great team to achieve our goal and tomorrow we will play our first final,” said Jurado.
“It is important that we are mentally strong and we have to be concentrated for the match, because LAFC is a tough team. We see it as a certain revenge of what happened in the Liga MX and football has given us a new opportunity to end the year on a good note.”
Carlos Vela an important player for LAFC
At the same time, Jurado shared his opinion about facing his compatriot Carlos Vela in this game, with the LAFC captain having broken all the records since arriving in Major League Soccer in 2018.
“We know Carlos is one of the most important players Mexico has right now and it motivates me to play against him, because I have followed his career since I was a kid. We have a positive mentality and we are focused on winning the Concachampions,” added Jurado.
