TIJUANA Saturday night The Xolos could leave behind all the talk about returning to the minor leagues and focus on reaching the playoffs of Mexico's top soccer division.
A victory over Atlas at Caliente Stadium would be "mission accomplished" and would mathematically ensure the team of remaining in the First Division.
Currently, the Xolos are tenth in the relegation table and if they add three more points with a win Saturday, they would have enough total points to avoid descent, regardless of what other teams do.
"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves," said team captain Javier Gandolfi, at the end of the training session Thursday. "You take it one game at a time. Our next opponent is an important one because it's a direct rival. Hopefully, we can win and have two reasons to celebrate."
For the match against Atlas the Xolos will have back on the field forward José Sand and midfielder Egidio Arévalo, both of whom served a one-game suspension last week. The bad news, though, is that striker Duvier Riascos won't be able to play because he's accumulated too many cards.
Coach Antonio Mohamed has two experienced substitutes for him in Mauro Gerk and Raúl Enríquez.
For its part, Atlas needs a win because it's in the second-to-last spot on the relegation table. Last week, the Zorros, as the team is called, lost at home 3-0 to Jaguares while the Xolos lost on the road 0-1 to Tigres.
Saturday night's match against Atlas is at 7 p.m. at Caliente Stadium.
alexandra.mendoza@sandiegored.com
