MIAMI, Florida – The quarterfinals of the 2022 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League kick off on Tuesday night with New York City FC seeking a big start against Comunicaciones of Guatemala in their first leg at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut.
NYCFC are coming off a commanding 6-0 aggregate win over Santos de Guapiles of Costa Rica in which FWs Valentin Castellanos and Talles Magno each scored two goals, while the likes of DF Maxime Chanot and GK Sean Johnson helped secure a pair of clean sheets.
Another productive outing at home in the first leg could lay the groundwork for a semifinal spot, but it won’t be easy against a Comunicaciones side that eliminated the Colorado Rapids in the previous round via a penalty shootout.
The Chapines survived playing a man down for 74 minutes in the second leg and will now take that warrior spirit into Tuesday’s first leg.
GK Kevin Moscoso was superb against the Rapids, with 12 saves in the second leg and then three stops in the penalty shootout.
Meanwhile, the key cogs in attack will be MF Jose Contreras and FW Juan Anangono, the latter winning 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf League Best Player and Top Scorer honors with six goals.
While the history of teams from the U.S. versus Guatemalan clubs in Concacaf play favors U.S. teams overall (11W-4D-3L), Comunicaciones have achieved a win and two draws in six matches against U.S. sides and would like nothing more to improve on that against NYCFC.
