NYCFC at home, but in enemy territory for CONCACAF second leg vs. AD San Carlos

New York City FC head coach Ronny Deila has been on the job for less than two months. That’s long enough for him to know at least one thing: hosting a match at the stadium of the club’s biggest rival is not ideal.

CONCACAF Champions League signage has replaced some of the Red Bulls imagery at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, ahead of NYCFC’s second leg in the Round of 16 against AD San Carlos. City won the opener last week in Costa Rica, 5-3, but was forced to host Thursday’s return leg in Jersey because of field turnover at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, as well as CONCACAF’s refusal to approve other sites within the five boroughs or within a reasonable distance.

“Everybody agrees that it's not what we want. We want to play really at home,” Deila said.

The Norwegian coach has yet to experience the Hudson River Derby, but said he understands the fans’ frustration with playing outside the city and inside enemy territory. Ultimately, Deila believes the club made the best decision from a competitive standpoint.  

“When the situation is as it is, then it's important that we think about winning,” Deila said. “To win, it's important that we don't travel a lot, and this was the best option around here. We just have to take those consequences and prepare really, really, really good. So, it's a big game for us and hopefully our fans will come and support us.”

How many fans will make their way to Red Bull Arena is anybody’s guess. Kickoff is scheduled for a relatively early 6 p.m. on Wednesday night, and forecasts call for rain showers in the area from late afternoon through the evening.

Adding to the uncertainty is discontent among City fans about the situation. A collection of NYCFC supporters’ groups, including officially recognized group The Third Rail, is boycotting the match, instead hosting a watch party at a sports bar near Yankee Stadium.

NYCFC striker Héber, who scored a hat trick in the first leg, said the players will treat this match as any other despite the location, and he was hopeful enough fans will make the journey to create an atmosphere the team can feed off.

“It's not what our our fans want, but I wish they come to support us because with them we are strong,” Héber said. “For the players, [it doesn’t] change so much because we need to play, it doesn't matter where, we need to give our best. And for sure tomorrow, [whoever] comes to watch us, you will see one strong team and I hope we win and we pass to another round.”

NYCFC is in good position to do just that after a strong first leg in its first competitive match of 2020. City was the only club out of five MLS sides in the Champions League to earn a victory in the road leg, and it would take a 3-0 loss to San Carlos or another lopsided defeat for the team to be eliminated Wednesday.

“I think we played really good for 35 minutes, we created a lot of chances in the beginning of the game, and we had 10 big chances in the whole game, and that's very rare that a team creates so much, so I was really pleased with the offensive play,” said Deila of his first match in charge. “I think that we sometimes leave it too open defensively, so we need to do something with that, especially when we press high and when we're going to press a little bit lower, but I know the players understand and they will adapt to that when we get more minutes and games.

“So overall, you score five goals away and win 5-3 — you saw all the other teams in the Champions League struggling away — so we put ourselves in a good situation before the last game.”