After being booed by their fans, who criticized their team's performance despite the victory, Jesús Dueñas, Tigres' midfielder, stated that the reaction of the incomparables is to some extent understandable after witnessing the unstoppable progress of their city rival, Rayados.
“They get upset for the same reason because you see Rayados scoring three, four goals. They beat Pachuca, they go and thrash Toluca at home and they demand it because of the names we have and the investments that are made in the team.
“It's normal for people to demand, that's good for us too, but people must understand that not every game you will win by three, four goals even with all due respect to Veracruz, Morelia, whoever it is, they are very tight matches,” he said.
In response to this, ‘Pollo’ made it clear that the most important thing is not the present, but qualifying for the Liguilla and reaching the finals as Tigres has done in recent championships compared to Monterrey.
“Well, the important thing is to qualify. Last season we qualified in eighth place and we faced Rayados who also qualified in the same position. A year and a half ago, it was the opposite, we qualified in first and Rayados in eighth. One time (Monterrey) qualified in ninth.
“It's a completely different tournament. Maybe Rayados does convince you, they score three, four goals, and you also notice that Rayados has been awarded a lot of penalties in their favor. We have hardly had penalties in our favor, it's not an excuse. They are also playing very well, that's why people expect us to follow the same path,” he said.
“The shield won't be enough for us”
Self-criticism, even though they earned three points, is present in Tigres' No. 29, Jesús Dueñas. He made it clear that the feline "stars" will not win games on their own, and also sent a message to the fans who want to see games where they win by a large margin.
“This idea of stars is no longer like before, where you played standing still and the number ten just pass me the ball and I won't move. With quality alone, it won't be enough for us, with just the shield it won't be enough to earn the three points.
“The fans expect, of course, to see the names of Enner above Eduardo Vargas, André, Aquino, Sosa, Jurgen. People expect six, five goals, but Mexican soccer is not like that. Mexican soccer is very tight,” he concluded.
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