On Wednesday night (15), Mexico will experience the emotions of its most traditional football classic. At 11:05 pm (Brasília time), current champions América visit Chivas, their biggest rival, in Guadalajara, in the first leg of the Liga MX semifinals. And the duel will feature a Brazilian character in the spotlight: coach André Jardine, Olympic champion with the Brazilian team in Tokyo 2020 and current coach of América.
Since June at the club in the Mexican capital, the 44-year-old Gaucho has a respectable record, especially in the classics against Chivas, Cruz Azul and Pumas in the Mexican Championship. In 6 derbies so far with Jardine in
command, América has a 72% success rate, which includes a 4-0 defeat of Chivas in the last tournament, which resulted in a title for the Americanists, putting an end to a 5-year run without trophies.
“The classics have a special motivation. The country really breathes football and stops to watch when América and Chivas play. They are the two biggest Mexican champions, the clubs with the biggest fans in the country and both are going through a good moment”, comments André Jardine. “The fact that it is a knockout duel adds an extra ingredient for us. We have confidence to follow our proposal and play a great game in Guadalajara now to decide Saturday at Azteca, in front of our fans”, concludes the coach.
Having finished the first phase as leaders, América has the advantage of qualifying for the final in case of two equal results in the confrontation. Chivas, who haven’t won the title in 7 years, arrive at the duel enjoying their best phase of the season, without conceding goals in 5 matches and determined to prevent Jardine from achieving a feat that hasn’t happened in América for 35 years: the second Mexican championship. Another separate attraction, in fact, can be seen on the bench, with a duel between Brazil and Argentina, as Chivas is coached by Argentine Fernando Gago.
“Gago does a very interesting job at Chivas, a team that defends very well and has extremely dangerous players up front, like Chicharito Hernández”, praises Jardine. “The Brazil and Argentina duel is not something that moves me in this case. I respect Fernando (Stutterer) a lot. What motivates me is winning the biggest classic in Mexico and taking another step towards this second championship. We are prepared”, says the coach.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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