Athletic will cross the pond in the 2023-24 preseason. The rojiblanco club has just announced a second friendly in Mexico in mid-July. The rojiblancos will face Necaxa on the 19th at the Victoria Stadium in the town of Aguascalientes just three days after doing so with Chivas de Guadalajara at the Akron Stadium in the second leg of the Gernika Tree Trophy. Valverde’s men won 2-0 (Berenguer and sancet) in the first leg played at San Mamés on Sunday, December 11, coinciding with the competitive break caused by the World Cup in Qatar.
The clash will serve to celebrate the centenary of ‘Los Rayos’, as the Aguascalientes team is popularly called. Like Chivas, Necaxa also sports red and white stripes on their crest and jersey. Three historic clubs with similar clothing.
The Victoria Stadium where the match will be played has a capacity for 25,500 spectators. Aguascalientes is a city in central Mexico that stands out for the Spanish colonial-style buildings in its historic center. It has a population of approximately 1,300,000 inhabitants and is located 260 kilometers from Guadalajara and 510 from Mexico City, the capital.
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Necaxa is currently twelfth in the Liga MX standings with four points after one win, one draw and three losses in five games played in the Clausura Tournament. Chivas is a little higher. The club that only plays with footballers from their country, in a philosophy that has certain similarities with that of Athletic, is seventh with 8 units in the same number of games (two wins, as many tied on the scoreboard and one loss).
After years of promotion and relegation of the Mexican soccer elite, Necaxa has competed since the 2016 Apertura Tournament in the highest category. Three League Championships, one Concacaf Champions League Championship, four Cups and one Mexican Super Cup stand out in his record.
It will be the second confrontation in history between the two clubs, who already met as champions of their respective leagues on August 28, 1935. The match was held in Mexico City as part of the tour of the rojiblanco club and the lions commanded by Patrick Caicedo they fell 4-1.
