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Sergio Canales is familiar with Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, and Jordi Alba. The CF Monterrey star had encounters in La Liga and shared the Spanish national team dressing room with two of the players.
Rayados will play against Inter Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup after the Mexican side eliminated FC Cincinnati 3-1 on aggregate. While the first leg is still a couple of weeks away, Canales spoke about facing these four players again, this time on the North American continent.
“These are always very complicated matches, you need a lot of things to go right in order to beat them,” Canales said (h/t Once Diario). “For me, Messi is the best player in history, he is always an added bonus; and I have been lucky to share many moments with Busquets and Jordi Alba in the national team, they are players of another level.”
Another player who has faced these four is Monterrey captain Héctor Moreno, who spent time at Espanyol and Real Sociedad in La Liga. While he understands many are excited about the matchup, the team’s focus is on taking it one game at a time.
“It’s still a long way off,” Moreno said. “Our team’s focus is: take it one game at a time. We are doing quite well in the league, and we want to continue like this. We are facing Atlas next; losing that focus would mean losing our concentration.
“Of course, we are aware of what’s to come, it will be a very interesting match against a great rival. Not only Leo, but there’s also Busquets, Jordi, and other players well managed by Tata (Martino). It will be a nice game that we hope will have a great result like today, both away and at home.”