"We will not be scared. We have to improve many things, and next Wednesday we will see." The defiant words of Tigres boss Ricardo Ferretti ahead of the club's biggest ever match.
Having watched his Tigres side fail to take their chances last night at the Estadio Universitario, Ferretti will lead his side to the infamous Estadio Monemental in Buenos Aires for the second leg of their Copa Libertadores Final against River Plate with the tie delicately poised at 0-0 after last night's stalemate.
If Ferretti is to make history with his side and become the first ever Mexican club to win the Copa Libertadores, then they will need more than just bravery alone.
River Plate are unbeaten at the Monumental in this year's Libertadores and after the long journey from Monterrey to Buenos Aires Tigres will be the underdogs to come away with the Copa.
However, having played River Plate twice already in this year's competition, including March's 1-1 draw at the Monuemental, Tigres will know they are capable of scoring what could be an all important goal away from home against the Argentines.
That night in March Tigres' goal came from attacker Joffre Guerron´s ability to take advantage of River Plate's high defensive line in order to round the River goalkeeper and score for the Mexicans.
Last night Tigres had several opportunities to repeat that goal and get behind the River Plate defense, with both Andre-Pierre Gignac and Egidio Arevalo failing to control the ball when having beaten the River Plate offside trap.
Tigres had almost perfectly released their strikers with long balls over the River defense, creating one-on-one situations with the River Goalkeeper.
Ferretti will no doubt target this weakness in River's defensive line once more and hope to utilize the striking instincts and pace of Rafael Sobis and Gignac to get behind the River backline and finish their chances this time.
Tigres, no doubt, will be defensively well organized and will hope Hugo Ayala will be fit for the second leg after limping off the field injured last night.
Tigres will need to be disciplined and patient at the Monumental and will no doubt look to soak up the inevitable River pressure that will be forced as the Argentines look to take advantage of their home support.
Central midfielders Arvelo and partner Guido Pizarro will have a big responsibility in keeping the midfield in front of the Tigres backline tight and then look to launch attacks out wide using the pace of Jurgen Damm and the returning Javier Aquino.
Ferretti will be cautious about attacking too aggressively from the start in Buenos Aires and so the pace of Aqunio and Damm on the counter attack could be the Mexicans biggest weapon when under pressure for long periods of the game.
Feretti would of course have preferred if his side were able to take a lead going into next week´s second leg, but will know that his Tigres side are more than capable of springing an upset and making history.
Ferretti calmly added last night: "We have the same intention as them, in a final in which everything is even and the coin is in the air. Let's see which side it falls."
So long as the Mexicans can utilize the weapons at their disposal and take their chances then they have every chance of taking the result away from the realms of luck and taking the Libertadores trophy back with them to Monterrey.
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