Club Leon and Urawa Red Diamonds will kick off their Club World Cup bids on Friday, when they square off in a second-round contest in Jeddah.
Following their arrival in Saudi Arabia, the two teams will battle for a place in the semi-finals, with Brazilian outfit Fluminense awaiting the winners.
Match preview
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Club Leon enter the Club World Cup for the first time in their history in 2023 on the back of their triumph in the CONCACAF Champions League last time around, despite failing to win a Mexican top-flight title since 2020.
They advanced through North America's premier competition with an impressive record, starting with a 3-0 aggregate round-of-16 win over Panamanian side Tauro, before beating Violette 6-2 over two legs to punch their ticket into the semi-finals, largely thanks to a 5-0 home triumph in Mexico as Victor Avila netted a brace alongside goals from Angel Mena, Lucas Di Yorio and Elias Hernandez.
Compatriots Tigres then stood in their way, and Nicolas Larcamon's side again progressed, despite losing 2-1 in the first leg on their travels, as they triumphed by three goals to one on home turf through Fidel Ambriz, Mena and Adonis Frias, setting up a meeting with Los Angeles FC in a two-legged final between late May and early June.
Having played on home soil in the first game, Los Panzas Verdes took an advantage into their trip to USA with a 2-1 victory, thanks to goals from William Tesillo and Mena, and they would see out the triumph in style, winning 1-0 in the second leg courtesy of Di Yorio's goal to win the trophy with a 3-1 aggregate triumph.
Larcamon's side now travel to Saudi Arabia this month on the back of an underwhelming Liga MX Apertura campaign, finishing eighth in the regular season and losing 4-2 in their quarter-final tie against Club America which culminated at the start of the month, and they will aim to bounce back from that disappointment with a victory on Friday to book their place in the Club World Cup semi-finals.
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Their opponents, meanwhile, face a shorter trip to Jeddah for Friday's second-round tie after also enjoying continental glory last time around.
Urawa Red Diamonds find themselves in the 2023 Club World Cup having come out on top in the AFC Champions League for the third time in their history last year, firstly advancing from their group in second place with 13 points from six outings before progressing to the quarter-finals with a 5-0 win over Malaysian outfit Johor Darul Ta'zim.
Indonesian side BG Pathum United then awaited, and the Red Devils again progressed in style with a 4-0 triumph, before scraping past South Korean outfit Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to reach the final, eventually prevailing in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw across 120 minutes.
That set up a meeting with Al-Hilal with the continental title on the line, and after the first leg at the end of April ended in a 1-1 draw, thanks to Shinzo Koroki's leveller, Maciej Skorza's side eventually prevailed as an Andre Carrillo own goal proved to be the only difference in the second leg.
Following that glory earlier this year, Urawa Red Diamonds now head into the global competition on the back of an unsuccessful group campaign in their AFC Champions League defence, having bowed out of the latest edition in second place, culminating in a 2-1 loss away at Hanoi in early December while also finishing fourth in Japan's top flight, and they will now be desperate to bounce back to their best in the upcoming Club World Cup before Skorza departs to be replaced by Per-Mathias Hogmo around the turn of the year.
Team News
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Club Leon should line up in a similar way to how they did in their unsuccessful Liga MX Apertura second leg against Club America, with Federico Vinas again bound to lead the line having netted a team-high tally of eight goals in 16 appearances in all competitions so far this term.
One alteration could be the re-introduction of Angel Mena in support of the striker, with the Ecuador international and veteran having chipped in with two goals of his own alongside five assists this campaign, while Nicolas Lopez should complete the attacking unit.
Ivan Moreno and Elias Hernandez will aim to cause further problems from wing-back roles, while Larcamon is unlikely to alter the back three of William Tesillo, Paul Bellon and Adonis Frias.
Urawa Red Diamonds should again line up in their preferred 4-2-3-1 shape on Friday, with experienced forwards Jose Kante and Bryan Linssen both fighting to lead the line, after the latter netted his fifth of the season in their defeat to Hanoi last time out, while the former boasts nine goals in 35 appearances across all competitions this season.
Whichever lone striker is deployed will have support centrally from Ekanit Panya, who has got the nod in the middle of a trio in recent weeks, while Alex Schalk and Yoshio Koizumi will hope to keep their places on the wings amid competition from Takahiro Akimoto and Takahiro Sekine.
Ken Iwao is a mainstay in midfield and should again be joined by Kaito Yasui, while Marius Hoibraten will hope to return and reform a centre-back pairing with Alexander Scholz, who is level with Kante at the top of the squad's scoring charts with nine goals this campaign.
Club Leon possible starting lineup:
Cota; Frias, Bellon, Tesillo; Moreno, Fernandez, Rodriguez, Hernandez; Mena, Vinas, Lopez
Urawa Red Diamonds possible starting lineup:
Nishikawa; Ogiwara, Scholz, Hoibraten, Ohata; Iwao, Yasui; Koizumi, Panya, Schalk; Linssen
We say: Club Leon 2-1 Urawa Red Diamonds
We anticipate a tight and intriguing second-round encounter in Jeddah on Friday and just give the edge to the Mexican side, who boast slightly more quality throughout their squad than the opponents and will set their sights on a semi-final meeting with Fluminense.
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Top tip
Sam Varley
