Real Salt Lake vs. Tigres UANL | CONCACAF Champions League Match Preview

March 2, 10 pm ET (FS2, SportsNet World)
Real Salt Lake vs. Tigres UANL
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, second leg
Real Salt Lake return home to Rio Tinto Stadium for the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals matchup with Tigres facing a daunting hole following their 2-0 first-leg loss in Mexico. They’ll need a 2-0 win after 90 minutes to force extra time and a 3-0 to go through to the semifinals. Just one Tigres goal – with the away goals tiebreaker – would all but seal RSL’s fate and end their dreams of repeating the magic of 2011, when they advanced to the CCL final.

To move on, RSL will have to improve on both ends of the field – but perhaps most importantly in front of Tigres’ goal. RSL equaled their opponents in shots on target (five apiece), but couldn’t capitalize, and that included two solid looks for new target man Yura Movsisyan.

"We created the chances [Wednesday], and so we feel like we can create even more back at home," RSL midfielder Kyle Beckerman told media upon the team’s return to Utah, as reported by the Salt Lake City Tribune. "We've just got to finish. If we can finish them, we'll be right back in it. Anything's possible then."

In addition to Beckerman’s line of thinking that RSL will presumably perform better at home, rather than south of the border where they’ve never won in CCL play, the players could also benefit from home cooking and sleeping in their own beds. Since the preseason started, RSL have been in preseason camps in San Diego and Tucson, Arizona, before heading down to Monterrey last week. 

Team Guides

• Real Salt Lake:Can RSL recapture magic from historic 2010-11 CCL run?
• Tigres UANL: Are Tigres CCL favorites?

Pick 'Em

"As lovely as it would be for Real Salt Lake to overcome the other Monterrey side, this Tigres is probably one of the best North American teams I’ve seen in the last three years." -- Diego Pinzon

"Yes, Tigres are stacked. But in a two-game series against attackers like RSL’s, this will turn into a shootout decided at Rio Tinto." -- Simon Borg

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