América’s Martín a doubt for San Luis second leg in Clausura 2023 playoffs

Club América took a big step towards the semi-finals of the Clausura 2023 playoffs on Wednesday, Fernando Ortiz’s men winning 3-1 at Atlético San Luis in the first leg of their last-eight tie.

Ahead of Saturday’s second leg at the Estadio Azteca, América’s head coach says he won’t take any risks over the fitness of Henry Martín, who had to be taken off during the opener after suffering a knock to the head. Ortiz says the striker will only play if he is 100% fit.

América to make late Martín decision, Ortiz says

“Henry’s fine,” Ortiz told his pre-match press conference on Friday. “I spoke to him before training. He trained individually, I think he’s following a league protocol. We’ll see on Saturday if he feels able to take part.”

Ortiz added that he’ll wait until the last moment before making a decision on Martín’s involvement. “If there’s even the slightest hint that he doesn’t feel OK to play, not just in terms of the league protocol, but also my judgement, I think that the human being takes priority over sporting concerns. We’ll see how he feels when he gets up on Saturday, and what the best decision is for him and for the team.”

Fidalgo fit for second leg, Araújo in for Reyes

América midfielder Álvaro Fidalgo also hurt himself in the first leg against San Luis, but Ortiz says the player hasn’t picked up anything serious and will be available for the return.

Meanwhile, Las Águilas’ boss didn’t rule out the possibility of freshening up his starting line-up, with defender Néstor Araújo already certain to return to the XI in place of the suspended Israel Reyes.

“This morning I analysed [the first leg] and assessed how the lads managed to come away with an advantage,” Ortiz said. “I haven’t made any decisions on whether to rotate or not. Néstor will play - he’ll come in to replace Isra. As for the rest of the side, I know that I have a squad with the tools to go out there and get a result.”