Ricardo Cadena showed his inexperience by keeping this Chivas player on the bench

Although Chivas arrived at Liguilla with five straight victories, El Rebaño Sagrado couldn’t find a way of breaking Atlas’s strategy, who didn’t have to do much in the second leg of the quarterfinals that ended in a 1-1 draw, as they arrived with the advantage after the 2-1 victory in the first leg.

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One of the main problems that Chivas had in both games of the series was the lack of opportunities for the offense, especially since Ricardo Cadena didn’t feel like he had a good forward to place in the starting XI, as his first option, Ángel Zaldívar, couldn’t contribute.

For the first leg, it was Roberto “Piojo” Alvarado who started as the center forward, even if he played most of the season as a right-winger with both Cadena and Marcelo Michel Leaño. On his place, Cadena started academy player Pavel Pérez.

For the second leg, he decided to return “Piojo” Alvarado to his usual position, but he finally understood that Zaldívar was going to be a liability for the team, which is why he decided to start José Juan Macías instead, giving him his first apparition in the starting XI since he took over the team.

Macías’s apparition in the lineup arrived too late

Although Macías was injured for the first four games of Cadena’s injury, the Mexican coach decided to keep him on the bench for the Repechaje game and the first leg as a tactical decision, even if his presence in the lineup would’ve meant an improvement from what Zaldívar showed.

Macías proved him right from the start of the game that he was the most dangerous forward in the current Chivas roster, as he created some plays along Alexis Vega, who disappeared in the first leg, that almost ended in goal during the first half, and it was him who scored the goal that gave Chivas hope of a miracle at the end of the second half, but El Rebaño couldn’t find the goal again.

According to reports, Cadena wasn’t keen on Macías given that he was one of the players that were close to Marcelo Michel Leaño, which is why he didn’t want to start him until he had no other choice, although the decision arrived too late on the season.

Will Macías leave for Apertura 2022?

Although Macías recently returned to Mexican soccer after a brief stint in La Liga, he knows that the best option for him is to remain in Chivas and earn regularity, something that will give him the chance of returning to the Mexican national team.

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