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MONTERREY, Mexico - Two-time defending champion Monterrey will head into the final two weeks of the CONCACAF Champions League without two key players due to injury, the club announced Wednesday.
Sunday's 3-2 Mexican league victory over Puebla cost the team midfielder Jesus Zavala and striker Aldo de Nigris, the club said on its website.
The 25-year-old Zavala, who tore a ligament in his left knee and had to be replaced in the Puebla match by Severo Meza in the 63rd minute, will miss the next three months, which not only will exclude him from the remainder of the Group Stage but the Club World Cup as well.
De Nigris, 29, who had four goals in last season's Champions League title run, put Monterrey ahead 2-0 in the 45th minute of Sunday's victory before leaving the match at halftime with an injured left thigh (adductor). He will miss three weeks.
Both players had appeared in all eight of Monterrey's matches in the Mexican league matches this season.
Monterrey has won both of its matches so far in this season's Champions League and leads Group 7 with six points, three more than Municipal six better than Chorrillo. It resumes play Tuesday at home against Municipal before finishing the Group Stage at Chorrillo on October 23.
