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The Red Bulls have a huge moment for themselves when they step on the field for their second leg matchup against CD Olimpia of Honduras. Instead of going on the road after a one all draw result, this time they have that same result after starting on the road and have the away goal in their back pocket.
But there might be a different story to this edition of the Champions League for the Red Bulls as they will face Olimpia who will be missing several players, not due to injuries or ssuspensions thru yellow card accumulation, or a straight red, it will be thru visa or immigration issues.
From my colleague Eduardo Solano on twitter about the missing players like Brayan Moya who converted the penalty in the 1st leg and Jonathan Paz as well.
Now I’m able to confirm that Olimpia’s Jonathan Paz won’t play against @NewYorkRedBulls due to visa issues, Bryan Moya who traveled illegally to the country will miss the game as well. Some other players facing the same fate. #RBNY #SCCL2018 #Olimpia #NYRB
— Eduardo solano (@newguayork) February 26, 2018
This sounds like a side that is already in trouble just before their plane takes off for the United States to try and survive this Champions League Tie. What does Head Coach jesse Marsch think about this?
“I’m trying to figure out how accurate this news is it seems like it’s accurate, but you never know about these situations,I still need to get their roster and you have to submit the roster 48 hours before the match begins.” said Marsch,.
”We’ve been thru with the group in a big way on what we area expecting from Olimpia now that they have played a game under theirbelt. We have also talked about the guys who have featured but the subs who have come in. I don’t think there will be too much adjusting that will be made, we will try to create clarity in a few things and if we do that well we can control the result.”
In the first 45 minutes of the first leg you saw Olimpia trying to muscle their will on the Red Bulls and they suffered by giving up an away goal, till they changed things up to begin the second half.
What the Red Bulls need to do is take advantage of their surrounds as they all know that their opponents are going to try and take advantage of the road goal and put the home side into an early hole. IF you saw what Tauro FC of Panama did to FC Dallas, they took advantage of the away goals rule and found a way to hold on and advance to the Quarterfinals.
So not only is the start a big key in this match, but they need to know that the psychological game that these Central American clubs will come in with are going to try and get under their skins and the Red Bulls need to keep their heads screwed on right.
So once the opening whistle blows, it’s going to be important for them to get out of the gate well and be clinical inside the Olimpia area and convert as many chances as possible to get ahead and advance to the next round.
So we shall see if this group can do the job right and make that big move to face a Quarterfinal tie against Club Tijuana of Liga MX in the CONCACAF Champions League.