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FULL-TIME: Although they gave up a late goal that forced them to settle for a 1-1 tie, the Sounders still advanced with a 4-1 aggregate-goal victory over Club León. They’ll now face New York City FC in the Concacaf Champions League semifinals, starting the week of April 5-7.
LEON 0, SOUNDERS 1: Despite having just about 25% of the ball in the first half, the Sounders were able to tack on a goal and take the away-goal tiebreaker in first-half stoppage time through Fredy Montero. Moments after suffering an apparent injury, Jordan Morris found João Paulo with a pass near the edge of the penalty area, who then dribbled into the box and drew a foul. Montero coolly finished the chance for his 10th career CCL goal, tied for the most for any MLS player.
The pass JP makes to Rowe is crazy hood but don’t sleep on Morris’ pass to JO either. pic.twitter.com/dzl8nKs9Oj
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) March 18, 2022
LINEUPS: The Sounders are going back to their three-centerback set in part to accomodate for the loss of Yeimar, but also in an attempt to shore up the backline for this game. Jackson Ragen effectively replaces Yeimar, while Kelyn Rowe enters as left back.
The Seattle Sounders head into tonight’s second leg against Club León holding a seemingly strong 3-0 lead. But they only need to look to a night earlier to see how precarious that lead can be, as the New England Revolution blew an identical lead against Pumas before ultimately falling in penalties.
On the line is a spot in the Concacaf Champions League semifinals, where New York City FC awaits. This would mark just the second time the Sounders have ever advanced that far in this tournament, and the first time since 2013.
The history of MLS teams in Mexico is not particularly encouraging. MLS teams are just 5-54-10 all-time and they’ve only managed to advance in 3 of 31 knockout-round meetings when the second leg is in Mexico. That said, the Sounders have now played León twice over the previous eight months and have collectively outscored them 5-3, albeit with neither meeting taking place in Mexico.
The advancement scenarios clearly favor the Sounders, who simply need to avoid losing by three goals or more and can even lose by three as long as they score. The only scenario in which this game would go to penalties is if León wins this leg 3-0.
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Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension
León
OUT: Omar Fernández, Osvaldo Rodríguez, Luis Montes, Jaine Barreiro
Sounders
OUT: Jimmy Medranda
QUESTIONABLE: Nicolas Lodeiro, Raul Ruidiaz, Josh Atencio
Officials
REF: Jose Raul Torres; AR1: Juan Zumba; AR2: Helpys Feliz; 4TH: Randy Encarnación Solano; VAR: Said Martinez; Ast. VAR: Tristley Bassue
How to Watch
Match date/time: Thursday, 5:30 PM PT
Venue: Estadio León, León
Online Streaming: Fubo TV (affiliate link), TUDN.com, FoxSports.com
National English TV: FS1 (John Strong & Maurice Edu)
Local Radio: 1090 AM, iHeartMedia (Costigan, Zakuani)
Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)
National Spanish TV: TUDN (Pablo Ramírez, Jesus Bracamontes & Felix Fernández)
Lineups
Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.
This is Seattle Sounders at Club León; watch with us
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