Concacaf Champions Cup: Crew held by Tigres, América routs Revs

Liga MX has the advantage over MLS after two first leg matches of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals.

Following a two-hour delay because of inclement weather, MLS Cup-holders Columbus Crew settled for a 1-1 tie with Mexican counterparts Tigres on Tuesday in the first leg of the home-and-home, total goals wins series in Ohio’s capital — a result that would allow Tigres to advance to the semis even with scoreless tie south of the border next week.

In rainy New England, Liga MX titan Club América demolished MLS’s Revolution 4-0, a victory that will all but certainly see the record seven-time regional champs advance to the final four.

The other remaining MLS-Liga MX series kicks off on Wednesday when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami hosts CF Monterrey (kickoff at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).

Here are three quick thoughts on Tuesday’s games.

Crew can’t find the winner

Even without Colombian international and main headliner Cucho Hernandez (more on that below), the Crew had to like their chances of beating Tigres at home.

But the visitors’ attack has been spearheaded for years by former France national team forward André-Pierre Gignac who, at age 38, remains one of Concacaf’s most lethal finishers. He proved it with a superbly taken strike that put the hosts in an early hole Tuesday. 

Columbus eventually dug out of it through Diego Rossi’s equalizer just before halftime. They were better over the 90 minutes. But they still couldn’t find the first leg winner they wanted and maybe even deserved. 

Now nothing but a win at Estadio Universitario next week will do. That’s not at all impossible for a team as good as the Crew, but it won’t be easy in a country where MLS sides rarely prevail — especially with key midfielder Aiden Morris suspended after being shown a second yellow card late in Tuesday’s encounter.

Revs’s embarrassing night has one silver lining

This Champions Cup run had been the lone bright spot of New England’s otherwise dismal start under first year coach Caleb Porter, whose team sits dead last among MLS’ 29 teams five weeks into the domestic league’s 2024 season.

That ended quickly on Tuesday. Over the opening 24 minutes at a soggy Gillette Stadium in suburban Boston, América scored two potentially tie-breaking away goals to effectively render the aggregate home and home series over before it really started. Veteran striker Henry Martin opened the scoring just after the quarter-hour mark, and U.S. men’s national teamer Alex Zendejas doubled the Aguilas‘ lead with a gorgeous left-footed strike well before the first half was over, much to the delight of the thousands of América fans in attendance. 

Two more goals after the break added the exclamation mark. 

Sure, crazy stuff happens in soccer. But expecting the Revs to go 7,200 feet above sea level and rout Mexico’s richest and most successful club by four or more goals at the Iconic Azteca Stadium isn’t realistic. New England’s run is over. And if that fact allows Porter’s side to prioritize slowly climbing up MLS’s Eastern Conference standings and into playoff contention, perhaps it’s for the best.

Where was Cucho Hernández?

The most intriguing subplot of either game Tuesday was easily Crew coach Wilfried Nancy’s apparent decision not to even dress star Colombian striker Cucho Hernández for the crucial opener in Ohio’s capital.  Nancy sat Cucho in an MLS regular season contest over the weekend for what the boss called a violation of “team policy,” according to the Columbus Dispatch. The unspecified infraction was  seemingly severe enough to extend to the biggest match the Crew – who have never reached the Concacaf final four – have played since winning MLS Cup last December.

It was a gutsy decision, no doubt, but also one that left the hosts at a distinct disadvantage without their match-winning talisman. It also makes you wonder what happens next. Will Cucho be back in Nancy’s lineup for next week’s decider in Monterrey? Is the damage beyond repair? There were no clear answers in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s stalemate, one that left the Crew needing an unlikely win south of the border in the rematch to advance to the semifinals.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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