FRISCO - FC Dallas comes home for the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League matchup vs Tauro FC this coming Wednesday, February 28th. In the first leg in Panama last week, FC Dallas faced a tough Tauro team backed with home support and left Panama City down 1-0 in the two-leg series. The team is now looking to Wednesday for their own home support in a must-win game to advance to the CCL quarterfinals.
All About Finishing
Last Wednesday saw FC Dallas dominate the 1st half with several opportunities to score, but Tauro FC's goalkeeper, Oscar McFarlane, had other thoughts. The Panamanian goalkeeper had several saves but his 44th-minute, point-blank save on Maxi Urruti kept FC Dallas off the scoresheet before the end of the first half and was crucial for Tauro FC.
2018 Homecoming
The second leg of the Round of 16 vs Tauro FC will be FCD's first competitive home match of the year and will be a much-needed boost for Coach Pareja's men. Looking back to FCD's last opening CCL home game they brought down Panama's Arabe Unido 4-0 in the Quarterfinal Leg One a year ago. The team will be looking to replicate a strong performance like that against another Panamanian giant.
Key Match-Ups
Reto Ziegler vs. Edwin Aguilar - Aguilar led Tauro FC's dangerous attack last Wednesday and was rewarded with a goal after chipping away all game. Aguilar beat his defender on the first post and nodded home corner kick to put Tauro up 1-0. Reto Ziegler and the rest of the backline will have a tall task in locking down Aguilar and the rest of the attack. FCD needs to win the first ball off of set pieces to avoid a Tauro away goal that would set FC Dallas back from advancing.
Michael Barrios vs. Jorge Gutiérrez - Barrios was a strong presence for FC Dallas in the first leg and he will be looking to replicate that same play again. As we saw in the first half, FCD had many chances to score off of a couple crosses and shots from Barrios. Barrios was unlucky to not score or assist but Pareja will look to Barrios and Santiago Mosquera to keep providing balls into Urruti.
Projected Lineup
FC Dallas (4-2-3-1): Jesse Gonzalez; Anton Nedyalkov, Reto Ziegler, Matt Hedges, Reggie Cannon; Victor Ulloa, Carlos Gruezo; Santiago Mosquera, Mauro Diaz, Michael Barrios; Maxi Urruti
Tauro FC (4-4-2): Óscar McFarlane; Rigoberto Niño, Gustavo Chara, Jorge Gutiérrez, Richard Dixon; Rolando Botello, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Marcos Sánchez, Jesús González; José Tamburelli, Edwin Aguilar.
