Monterrey head coach Domenec Torrent admitted his team faces a superior opponent in Borussia Dortmund in the Club World Cup round of 16 on Tuesday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, but he expects the Liga MX side to compete well.
Rayados qualified to the knockout stage of the tournament after emerging in second place from Group E with two draws and a victory, edging out River Plate and Urawa Red Diamonds, while finishing behind group winners Inter Milan.
“Knowing that they are superior to us, it is no secret, in terms of squad, in terms of budget, what they are used to competing in, they are in big competitions,” Torrent said on Monday. “But Monterrey has already done well in three games playing totally different both in terms of system and idea of play.
“I think that we are going to try to at least compete until the end because we represent a very important team and also we want to show ourselves. I have said it many times, that Mexican soccer in general is capable of competing better and better.”
Torrent said he knows the quality of Borussia Dortmund well after his time working in Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Bayern Munich, allowing him to communicate to his players the level of concentration needed on the pitch in order to compete.
“I know them from my time at Bayern, how well they compete, the club in general, regardless of the players who come now and who they’ll have later,” Torrent said. “I want to make my team feel that we have to compete for every ball, every minute, every second, only then can we compete against BVB.”
In 2007, Torrent joined Guardiola’s coaching staff at FC Barcelona B before going on to work for the Spaniard at Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. Torrent assisted Guardiola to 24 trophies in 11 years working together.
Despite featuring under his staff at previous editions of the Club World Cup, this stands as the first time Torrent leads a team in the competition as head coach.
“It’s very nice because you face different football cultures. You see that football is getting closer every day because people study it, analyze it,” Torrent said. “Yes, that normally individual quality determines many matches and for me it’s a luxury to be able to be in a Club World Cup. I was in the other Club World Cup three or four times with Bayern, Barcelona, with Cit,y but as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, not as head coach.
“It’s the first time that I’m as head coach in a Club World Cup, so for me it’s a luxury and to have the squad that I have. We’re all working hard, players on this board, to find ourselves comfortable enough to compete well, and I hope we can participate in this tournament many times.
“That means we’ve won things, and winning things allows us to be in this World Cup.”
Monterrey qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup by winning the 2021 Concacaf Champions League, beating Club America in the final. The winner of Tuesday’s round of 16 match would go on to face the winner of the game between Real Madrid and Juventus in the quarterfinals.
