This is the Rebaño Sagrado's tenth appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. On Canadian soil, Guadalajara will begin the road to its third championship in the zone, and here you'll find everything you need to know about the first leg against Hamilton Forge at Tim Hortons Field.
How are they coming into the match?
-Chivas qualified for this year's edition of the continental tournament by playing in the final of the Clausura 2023. In the current semester, the Rebaño have two consecutive wins and two draws, which places them eighth in the Liga MX standings.
-On the other side, Hamilton Forge is the current champion of the Canadian Premier League, a tournament they won by defeating the leader Cavalry in the final by 2-1. The Canadian team has had no official activity since October 28, when it played that game.
Who is Hamilton Forge?
The Red & White's opponent was founded in 2017 and has been competing since then in the Canadian Premier League, where they have won 4 titles. This will be their second participation in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, after the 2022 edition.
Latest lineups
Guadalajara: 27 Raúl Rangel; 2 Alan Mozo, 4 Antonio Briseño, 13 Gilberto Chiquete, 50 Mateo Chávez; 20 Fernando Beltrán, 15 Erick Gutiérrez, 5 Víctor Guzmán; 25 Roberto Alvarado, 6 Pável Pérez and 19 Ricardo Marín.
Coach Fernando Gago.
Hamilton Forge: 1 Triston Henry; 23 Garven Metusala, 13 Alexander Achinioti Jönsson, 5 Manjrekar James; 24 Rezart Rama, 21 Alessandro Hojabrpour, 10 Kyle Bekker, 20 Kwasi Poku; 22 Noah Jensen, 39 Beni Badibanga, 14 Terran Campbell.
D.T. Bobby Smyrniotis
Did you know?
-Guadalajara has played 12 CONCACAF Champions Cup matches since 2012, with a record of seven wins, two draws and three losses. During this span, Chivas have never conceded more than two goals per game, recording 21 goals for and seven goals against.
-Chivas has kept two of its six away games in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (2V 2E 2D). In the remaining four, they have conceded only one goal per game in such conditions.
-Guadalajara has only one loss among their last five away games in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (2V 2E). In addition, since 2012 they have never conceded more than one goal per game in such conditions in the competition.
-The last match Guadalajara played in the CONCACAF Champions Cup (April 2018) was also against a Canadian team: 1-2 loss vs Toronto FC in the final of the 2018 edition, although Chivas became champions by penalty shootout (4-2).
-Since Chivas' last CONCACAF Champions Cup championship in 2018, six players are currently with the institution as part of the playing roster: Carlos Cisneros, Isaac Brizuela, Jesús Sánchez, Miguel Jiménez, José Juan Macías and Ronaldo Cisneros.
-Forge FC will face its second Mexican team in the CONCACAF Champions Cup after losing two games to Cruz Azul in February 2022.
