COLUMBUS, Ohio ā After a lineup made up predominantly of reserves earned a road point to begin their MLS campaign, the New York Red Bulls quickly turned their focus to the Concacaf Champions League and an imposing opponent after a three-day turnaround.
Three days after clinching a spot in the CCL quarterfinals, head coach Chris Armas started just three of the same players in a 1-1 draw in Columbus against Crew SC Saturday afternoon as a Tuesday matchup with Santos Laguna in New York loomed large (8 pm ET | Univision Deportes, YahooSports.com).
After the match, Armas said earning the difficult result while so many starters rested āwith an eye on Tuesdayā gives him āmore information that supports what we believe,ā which is that his team is as deep as any in MLS.
āIt gives us a lot of confidence in what weāre doing here, with [sporting director] Denis Hamlett building the roster,ā he said. āWe feel great, moving forward, that we can rely on a lot of guys.ā
Moments after the match, Armas said he was already shifting his focus to Santos, who he called āa different challenge,ā but one āweāre excited for.ā
āI see two teams that value similar things; both teams are a little direct at times and value defensive play and pressing and counter-pressing and playing in tight spaces,ā he said. āI think we know where theyāre strong; they have some clever attackers and speedy wingers. ā¦ But we think we know their weaknesses, too, and weāll do our best to expose that.ā
Santos made an emphatic statement in the CCL round of 16, thumping CD Marathon by an aggregate score of 11-2 over two legs.
Defender Aaron Long said the Red Bulls ā and their backline in particular ā arenāt taking the matchup lightly.
āTheyāve shown a lot of confidence, and their results were very one-sided in their favor,ā he said of Santos. āIt just shows that theyāre a really good team. They won a title last year in Mexico, and theyāre going to come out full-force and look to win in our place. Theyāre not going to look to sit in and try to get a tie. We know theyāll be coming for goals.ā
Despite that, Long said āfor sureā the team thinks it can win a CCL title, and said theyāre approaching the tournament that way.
āAs long as weāre in CCL, I think thatās priority 1 right now,ā he said.
Armas was less willing to set expectations, and said his focus will be on preparing his team for what theyāll face against Santos and making sure his players understand that āevery play matters.ā
āWeāre taking it one game at a time and understanding exactly the demands of leg one in our building ā every goal for us, how it counts, every goal for them, how it counts,ā he said. ā[Weāre] understanding the discipline itās going to take, understanding our opponent, respecting our opponent and understanding that nothing is a given.
āWe want to win every game we play, but the minute you start thinking youāre there before youāre there, youāre humbled really quickly. But weāre going after it.ā