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Pumas will make their home debut on Sunday when they play against Necaxa. After a surprising away win to San Luis, Pumas will hope to improve in their first home game of the new season. They will face a tough Necaxa team that will feel the need to bounce back after failing to get a home win against Cruz Azul in their season debut, and who historically have been a tough team for Pumas to face at home regardless of their current level of play.
Under new head coach Michel, Pumas got an important victory playing spoiler to Atletico San Luis in their Liga MX debut. While the 2-0 win was a boost, at times Pumas were dominated and many fans felt it was an unjust result for Pumas. Still while it’s true that Pumas suffered defensively and San Luis should have taken advantage, that failure is on them. Michel did a good job making substitutions, and Pumas had a much better second half. By the time the goals came, it was Pumas who was the best team on the field, and the win wasn’t as surprising as some made it out to be. Michel will hope to keep that spirit in the second half with Carlos Gonzalez hopefully turning things on against his former team like he did last year, scoring a hat trick when Necaxa visited Mexico City.
After an embarrassing performance by Necaxa in the Supercopa (where they lost 4-0 to Cruz Azul), they bounced back in their home opener in the rematch with Cruz Azul. Although they improved in play, they weren’t able to transform that improvement into goals. Both Cruz Azul and Necaxa had penalty kicks that they wasted, and the 0-0 tie was a bad result for both teams. Still Necaxa will hope to bounce back and they might have a perfect situation. Historically they have had some good victories playing in Estadio Olimpico, a lot of times against better teams than the one Pumas should go with on Sunday. It will not be an easy task for Pumas, as Necaxa prepares to do what Pumas did last week and play spoiler.
Pumas first home game will be a tough task although they might be able to take advantage of a Necaxa team that, like always, made a lot of moves and changes. It already suffered because of it in the Supercopa and Pumas will hope that it happens again especially since their next game is a much tougher match against last season’s champions Tigres. Michel will hope for Pumas to make a statement at home and it all starts this Sunday.
Game: Club Universidad Nacional A. C. vs. Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V.
Date: Sunday, July 28th
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 p.m. Central, 10:00 a.m. Pacific, 5:00 p.m. UTC
Venue: Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Referees: REF: Eduardo Galvan Basulto, AR1: Enrique Isaac Bustos Díaz, AR2: José de Jesús Baños Caballero, 4TH: Juan Andres Esquivel González
Television: United States - Univision, TUDN; Mexico - TUDN, ESPN2 Norte, Canal de las Estrellas
Streaming: fuboTV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Sling TV (Free trial + monthly subscription), Univision NOW