Cruz Azul, with Uruguayan midfielder Ignacio Rivero, will host Chivas de Guadalajara, coached by Argentine Gabriel Milito, this Sunday in a do-or-die match in the quarterfinals of the Mexican soccer opening.

After a goalless match last Thursday, the Blues, coached by Argentine Nicolas Larcamon, will have a slight advantage because they are playing at home and only need a draw to advance to the semifinals. In the event of a tie, their opponent will be eliminated due to having finished higher in the regular season. In the first leg, both teams squandered offensive opportunities, and Cruz Azul celebrated the strong performance of their backup goalkeeper, Andres Gudino, who saved the team a couple of times and proved himself capable of replacing Colombian Kevin Mier, the starting goalkeeper, who is recovering from a serious shin injury. The quarterfinal series has been reduced to 90 minutes, in which Cruz Azul will try to capitalize on playing at home, while Guadalajara will look to defend well and then create scoring opportunities with an attack led by the young Armando Gonzalez, the league's top scorer. Gonzalez suffered a muscle strain in the first leg, but he is expected to be recovered and lead the attack. Milito will have to resort to attacking tactics at some point to secure the victory needed to qualify for the semifinals, and the young striker will play a key role in that endeavor. The Blues are trying to shake off their reputation for losing important league matches, and to do so, they will need to play almost perfectly because Chivas finished the championship strongly and are currently in top form. Rivero, his compatriot Gabriel Fernandez, and the Mexican Angel Sepulveda will be three fundamental pieces in midfield and attack. Larcamon is counting on them to secure passage to the final four. The first three semifinalists will be decided this Saturday when Monterrey, led by Spaniard Sergio Ramos, visits America.Tijuana faces Tigres UANL and defending champion Toluca hosts Juarez FC.

After defeating America 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinal series, Rayados, coached by Spaniard Domenec Torrent, will look to once again display a solid defense, with Ramos leading the way. They will need to be focused because America is dangerous in decisive matches.

Tijuana, coached by Uruguayan Sebastian Abreu, thrashed the favored Tigres 3-0 in the first leg and has everything in its favor to pull off a major upset in the quarterfinals, for which it will need to maintain its strong performance.

Toluca, coached by Argentine Antonio Mohamed, looks more comfortable, having won the first leg 2-1 and will now host a Juarez FC side that needs to win by two goals.