SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – High-flying Alianza of El Salvador is set to clash with San Carlos of Costa Rica in the first leg of the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador.

Los Albos have been one of the highest-scoring teams in the tournament, with eight goals through the Preliminary Round and the Round of 16.

It has not been one player who has shouldered the scoring burden; six different Alianza players have found the back of the net in the competition, reflecting Alianza’s spread-the-wealth attacking mindset.

A decisive win on Thursday can put Alianza in a good position to make a return to the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League after narrowly falling to eventual champions Monterrey in the 2019 edition earlier this year.

San Carlos’s first venture in Concacaf competition has been marked by their strong defensive play, as they secured back-to-back scoreless draws in the Round of 16 versus Santa Tecla of El Salvador before winning the decisive penalty shootout, 4-2.

Yet with veteran attacking players like Jairo Arrieta and Alvaro Saborio in the fold, it is just a question of time before the San Carlos offense gets going.

Match Officials: 

R: PITTI, JOHN FRANCIS (PAN)

AR1: RAMIREZ SOTO, CHRISTIAN JESUS (HON) AR2: WALES, CALEB (TRI)

4th Official: KELLYS MARQUEZ, JOSE ANTONIO (PAN)

Notes:

Alianza FC 

Round of 16  vs Tauro FC (PAN) 2-1 overall

First leg: 8-22-19 Alianza FC (2) Raúl Peñaranda 38´, Iván Roberto Mancía 57´, Tauro FC (0)

Second leg: 8-29-19 Tauro FC (1) Freddy Gondola 4´ Alianza FC (0)

Record in SCL GP-8 W-6 L-2 (GF-14 GA-7).

Scorers in SCL: Rodolfo Zelaya (3), Raúl Peñaranda (2), Óscar Cerén, Marvin Monterroza, Jonathan Jiménez, Alexander Larín, Gustavo Guerreño, Herlbert Soto, Iván Mancia and Juan Carlos Portillo.

AD San Carlos (CRC) 

AD San Carlos (CRC) vs. Santa Tecla (SLV) (0-0) 4-2 on penalty kicks

First leg: 8-20-19 Santa Tecla (0) AD San Carlos (0)

Second leg: 8-27-19 AD San Carlos (0) Santa Tecla (0)

* Jairo Arrieta scored the decisive penalty kick after Erick Rivera did not convert for Santa Tecla

Record in SCL: GP-2 D-2 (GF-0 GA-0).