R16 - CD Motagua (HON) vs. Atlanta United FC (USA) Leg 1: February 18 - 10:00 PM ET Estadio Nacional, Tegucigalpa Leg 2: February 25 - 8:00 PM ET Fifth Third Bank Stadium, Kennesaw ATLUTD.com home page here. (Preview to come) MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC.com United home page here. (Preview to come) ~ Off we go into the 2020 season. Hopefully by now you've sufficiently drowned your sorrows after the home upset to TFC. The good news is that it's a new day and a new year so we're legally allowed to hope again! I'm too tired to recap the preseason so I'll simply defer to Doug Roberson's article, which is arguably for the best: If you're a United fan you should read his articles daily to help keep him at the AJC so that the Five Stripes remain one of the few MLS sides with a bona fide beat reporter. (Subscribe to the paper if you can and support local journalism!) Suffice to say, however, we exit the pre-season with several questions still unanswered and some game-time decisions to be made regarding player health and availability. So even though the team had more downtime this off-season to prepare compared to 2019 the slow-burning roster shake-up means the squad has some kinks that need to be ironed out. Dealing with physical, pressing teams remains an issue, and getting more attackers to advance and change the shape of the defense will be critical. So let's focus on the opponent. Motagua is one of 5 teams in the Honduran professional top flight - keep in mind Honduras has fewer people than the state of Georgia - and the 2nd most successful team in Honduran footballing history. 17 times national champ, Motagua qualified for this edition of the CCL as winners of the '18-'19 Apertura and the '18-'19 playoff versus the Clausura winner, and by virtue of advancing to the CONCACAF League where they lost in the final series to Saprissa 1-0 on aggregate. It's early in their Clausura season so far but Motagua has claimed 3 wins and a loss from their 4 matches to date. Motagua's key player is striker Rubillo Castillo, the club's all time leading scorer. At a lanky 6' tall he's a more imposing figure than Josef and apparently likes to just overpower or outrun shorter defenders. They have another striker named Roberto Moreira that's also proved a decent option up front and a midfielder in Walter Martinez who is a Honduran national team player that likes to boss the center of the pitch. More notes to come.
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That projected ATL line up seems weak. Rossetto has the same problems as Mulraney? And even if Castro is available I doubt he will play without having enough time to get with the team. I just hope this is enough to at least end with a tie.
A draw would be nice, an away goal or two nicer. I just hope there are no injuries. I am expecting a rough match with lots of CONCAF shenanigans. Longshore tweeted that a couple of Motagua key players took knocks in their last match and had to be subbed out: Rubilio Castillo scored his 3rd goal in as many games, but had to be subbed out after taking a hard kick to the back of his left ankle/foot. Captain CB Juan Montes left early in the second half on a stretcher after what appeared to be a left hamstring injury. 2/2— Jason Longshore (@Longshoe) February 16, 2020
Something else to consider, Motagua has a league match to play in between CCL games with Atlanta. Hopefully that will hinder their performance in Leg 2.
My first reaction is "Why can't this team keep a left back healthy?!" But then I recall they've won 3 trophies with that same issue...
We are snake bit at left back fer sure. FdB say Campbell isn't ready for prime time, so Doug Robinson is predicting 4 in the back: Walkes --- Meza --- Escobar --- Lennon So how is everyone watching this match? I don't really want to sign up for Fox Soccer Plus just for CCL. I don't even know if I going to be in Atlanta or Gainesville, so I am not sure about my pub watch party options either.
We need Bruce Hornsby! He survived playing keys with the Grateful Dead- surely he can stay healthy as United's LB...
Happy matchday, campers! After (insert math!) days we finally get to see/listen to actual Five Stripes games that matter! We have a match over which we can fret about lineups, stats, chemistry... Time to be earnest fans again! No idea. I don't want to spend $ on FSP, either, so I'll be searching for a bootleg stream or seeing if somehow an obscure channel on DirecTV has it. Otherwise counting on audio from the app. Gainesville?! That's my neck of the woods. Might need to meet up for a away-game viewing some time.
I have YouTube TV, through which you can sign up for Fox Soccer Plus as an add-on. There's even a 5-day free trial for it, so I'm not gonna have to pay any extra money. Along those lines, you could sign up for free trials for both YouTube TV and Fox Soccer Plus, giving you access for free even if you don't currently subscribe to YouTube TV.
I watched a lot of Motagua highlights earlier today. I think a mid-season Atlanta United would have no problem going on the road to beat this team. Really, any decent MLS team should beat this team home or away. HOWEVER, we're in preseason. So all bets are off. I'm with the majority here; it's CONCACAF on the raod, so I'll happily take a 1-0 loss or a draw.
Absolutely! You know a good spot to watch United games? I currently split my time between Gainesville and Atlanta.
I've AT&T so FS+ costs me $15 a month. Tonight I am going down to the pub to watch, but 10pm kickoff makes that a lot less than desirable than normal.
I still have nightmares about last year's CCL opener in Costa Rica, but I am interested in this first look at 2020 AU in a meaningful game, even if we are going to be severely short handed.
I had been ignoring this YouTubeTV ad, but I grabbed the free 5-day trial just now, so I'll be able to see the game and then cancel.
Watching the beginning of Portmore Utd (H). v. Cruz Azul. There is NOBODY in the stands. I hear a band and some shouting, but the stands that are visible on the screen are dead empty.
This is frustrating, FS2 is broadcasting Jamaica's Portmore United FC vs Cruz Azul, but we can't get the local team without an additional buy in? Does Fox Sport South not broadcast the Atlanta United matches anymore? Apparently there are 3 people in attendance down in Kingston in a stadium that can seat 35,000. At 10:00 FS2 is going to give us Leon vs LAFC. If anyone cares, Portmore United FC holding their own in the first 10 minutes, but the play reminds me of my ADASL days.
The band sounds like 3 guys banging drums and another with a vuvuzela, very annoying. The least they could do is serenade us with soothing reggae tunes.
Cruz Azul don't look like a Liga MX team in mid season form. So far the Reggae boyz are giving them all they can handle. Not pretty to watch, but this would be quite the upset.
Portmore had a 2 on 1 break after a Mexican miscue but they made a complete mess of it... ah what might have been.