Santos came to Monterrey needing three points to get back into the repechaje, however they had never beaten Monterrey at Estadio BBVA, picking up their last league win against Rayados at the old Estadio Tecnológico back on February 27, 2002. Despite some controversial calls that left both teams with ten players at the end of the first half, Santos managed to hang around and pull out the 2-1 win, pushing them all the way into ninth place in the league.
The opening minutes of the match were spent mostly in the midfield, with the teams feeling one another out and trying to establish a rhythm.