For the second year in a row, Mexico City rivals Cruz Azul and Pumas UNAM will meet in the knockout stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. This year it's for a chance at the title.

A year ago, Cruz Azul won 2-0 on aggregate in the quarterfinals on goals by Jaime Lozano and Cristian Riveros before eventually losing the finals to another Mexican foe, Atlante.

The first match will be played at Estadio Olimpico Universitario on Wednesday, while the return leg is at Estadio Azul on April 6. The winner takes on either Pachuca or Toluca in the final.

(Watch a video preview of the match.)

Cruz Azul saw its six-match league unbeaten streak snapped Friday night when La Maquina fell to Estudiantes 2-1 in Guadalajara. Christian Gimenez scored an early equalizer for Cruz Azul before Oswaldo Alanis scored his second of the game to win it in the second half.

The Azulinos had scored 12 goals in winning their four previous games before the loss. It was Gimenez's first goal with Cruz Azul since the Argentine's move from Pachuca in December.

"Last week there was a lot of talk about how I was not scoring goals, but the team won and I was happy," Gimenez said. "I scored, the team lost and now I am upset. That's life. The only thing we can do is work hard."

Cruz Azul squandered a chance to move ahead of Pumas into second place in Group 3 of the Mexican Clausura. La Maquina is four points behind Santos Laguna and one behind Pumas.

"Tecos played well and even though they did not have a lot of chances, they scored on the ones they got," Cruz Azul's Emmanuel Villa said. "It was difficult for us to score. The win was deserved."

Pumas, unbeaten in its last six matches in the Mexican league, will be without Efrain Velarde, who had surgery last week to repair a broken bone in his foot suffered against Jaguares.

El Chispa had played all but six minutes during the Clausura and has started 119 regular season games for Pumas since his breakthrough in the 2006 Apertura.

"Efrain was operated with success," team physician Roberto Rodriguez told Mexican daily Reforma. "Everything came out well and now we just have to wait. He will be out for approximately 2-3 months."

Although it extended its unbeaten streak playing San Luis to a goalless draw at home, it was Pumas second game in three in the Mexican league that it failed to score.

"We were disorganized in the field," Pumas coach Ricardo "Tuca" Ferretti said. "But also San Luis played well."

Ferretti also blasted the decision to play the match early in the afternoon under an oppressive heat. Temperatures reached 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit.)

"In addition to high temperatures, when playing more than 2,000 meters (6,550 feet) above sea level, the situation becomes dangerous for the players," the Brazilian said. "I hope in the future Mexican football officials contemplate changing the time of the games."