Motagua in search of preserving Group C lead versus CAI | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2025 Concacaf Central American Cup continues with FC Motagua hosting CA Independiente in Group C on Tuesday at Estadio José de la Paz Herrera Uclés in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Motagua will aim for another three points to remain the leader in Group C after claiming a 4-1 away win at Verdes FC. Four different scorers secured the win for the Ciclón Azul, Carlos Mejía, Jorge Serrano, Marcelo Santos and Edwin Munguía.

Edwin Munguía, who became the youngest player to debut in the Central American Cup for a Honduran club at 19 years, 2 months, and 25 days. He surpassed Yotsin Obando, son of Honduran legend César “Nene” Obando, who had debuted with Olancho FC at 19 years, 3 months, and 25 days, also against Verdes FC.

Carlos Mejía and Jorge Serrano of Motagua have now each scored three goals in the Central American Cup. For Serrano, it was his first goal as a Motagua player, with his previous two coming while playing for Club Atlético Independiente.

Motagua enters the encounter unbeaten in its last eight CCAC games (4W, 4D), including winning against two Panamanian clubs as part of the run (3-2 vs. San Francisco, Tauro FC 4-1).

CA Independiente will start its second participation at a CCAC with the objective of advancing past the Group Stage after winning the Panamanian Torneo Clausura 2024 title. CAI arrives with a win and two losses its first three Torneo Clausura 2025 matches.

The meeting will be the third between the sides in CCAC history after clashing in the Quarterfinals of the inaugural edition. The first leg resulted in a 1-1 draw, before CA Independiente won 2-nil in the return leg to clinch the series 3-1 on aggregate.

All-Time Series

FC Motagua and C.A.I. (Club Atlético Independiente) will face each other for the third time in the Central American Cup, with both teams having recorded one win and one draw.

The first meeting was a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the quarterfinals on September 26, 2023, at Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés in Tegucigalpa (HON), with Argentine Agustín Auzmendi scoring for Motagua and Héctor Hurtado for C.A.I. The return leg was played on October 3, 2023, at Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City (PAN), where C.A.I. claimed a 2-0 victory with a brace from Carlos Small.

FC Motagua holds a record of (W-5 D-4 L-4) in 13 matches against Panamanian opponents in official Concacaf club tournaments: twice in the Central American Cup (D-1 L-1), six times in the Scotiabank Concacaf League (L-1 W-2 D-3), and five times in the Copa Interclubes (W-3 L-2). Their last victory over a Panamanian club was a 1-0 win on September 30, 2021, in the second leg of the Round of 16 of the Scotiabank Concacaf League against CD Universitario at Estadio Nacional Chelato Uclés in Tegucigalpa (HON), with a goal from Wesly Decas that secured a 3-2 aggregate series win for the Hondurans.

For C.A.I., this will be their fifth Central American Cup encounter against Honduran clubs, having faced Olimpia twice (D-1 L-1) and Motagua twice.