New York Red Bulls vs. CD Olimpia
2018 CONCACAF Champions League – Round of 16, Leg 2
Red Bull Arena - Harrison, N.J.
8 pm ET – March 1, 2018
WATCH: UDN, univisiondeportes.com, go90.com
The New York Red Bulls hold a slight advantage. Now, they just have to finish the job inside of the friendly confines of Red Bull Arena.
The Red Bulls will welcome Honduran side CD Olimpia to their home in Harrison, New Jersey, on Thursday in the second leg of the teams' CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 series. The aggregate currently stands at 1-1, but New York are in front because of the impressive away goal that Daniel Royer scored in last week's opening meeting, which was played in a closed-doors setting in Costa Rica due to a ban on Olimpia home games.
The odds are in the Red Bulls' favor, especially after three Olimpia players were ruled out for this decisive fixture because of visa issues, but the Central American outfit has proven tough in recent months. Olimpia are undefeated in their 10 matches across all competitions in 2018, and showed observers everywhere last week that they can pluck a result even when they are not playing at their best. New York might be the favorites, but they know there is not much room for error in this one, so they will have to be sharper in order to move on to the quarterfinals and prevent adding to the "That's So Metro"archives.
- Analysis: RBNY show promise in first leg vs. Olimpia
- 2018 Roster - Red Bulls' Depth Chart
- CONCACAF Champions League cheat sheet
New York Red Bulls
The first leg of the series was largely controlled by the Red Bulls, up until legs got tired and decision-making went awry in the second half. While that may be understandable given that New York are still in preseason mode, Aurelien Collin's penalty-kick foul gave Olimpia life in this series. The MLS team now has to play a more complete game, meaning that leaders like Collin, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Luis Robles and promising youngster Tyler Adams need to avoid mistakes and turn in strong 90-minute outings to make sure the club gets over the finish line and through to the next round.
- Suspended: N/A
- Suspended after next caution: Tyler Adams, Aurelien Collin, Sean Davis, Felipe
- Injury Report: N/A
Projected Starting XI
(4-2-3-1, right to left)
GK: Luis Robles — Michael Murillo, Aaron Long, Aurelien Collin, Kemar Lawrence — Tyler Adams, Felipe — Alex Muyl, Sean Davis, Daniel Royer — Bradley Wright-Phillips
CD Olimpia
Olimpia's chances of advancing were dealt a big blow on Tuesday, as the team confirmed that the trio of Brayan Moya, Jonathan Paz, and Dabirson Castillo are going to miss this game because of visa issues. Moya and Paz started last week in Costa Rica, so their absences will force the team to tap into its depth. Regardless of who they trot out, Olimpia will need to take chances because they cannot advance without getting on the scoreboard at Red Bull Arena.
- Suspended: N/A
- Suspended after next caution: German Mejia, Jose Reyes
- Injury Report: OUT: M Jaime Cordoba (left foot), D Nick Del Grecco (dengue fever), D Jose Tobias (achilles tendon)
Projected Starting XI
(4-4-2, right to left)
GK: Donis Escober — Kevin Alvarez, Johnny Palacios, Ever Alvarado, Luis Ovalle — Michaell Chirinos, Gerson Rodas, German Mejia, Oscar Salas — Carlo Costly, Rony Martinez
All-Time Series
This is the second-ever meeting between the New York Red Bulls and CD Olimpia.
- CONCACAF Champions League history: New York Red Bulls – 3 appearances (2008/09, 2014/15, 2016/17) – 3 wins, 3 losses, 7 ties (13 goals) … Olimpia – 9 appearances, only team to appear in every edition (2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17) – 18 wins, 14 losses, 9 ties (66 goals)
Referees
To be announced …
