🏆 Three things to watch as the 2023 Concacaf Champions League begins
Farewell, format! PLUS: How will Tigres manage a tough stretch?
When you look at Chima Ruiz you do not see a man who is stressed. He is smiling and joking. He is calling Concacaf Champions League “La Conca”. He is saying his team will compete for both the CCL trophy and the Liga MX title.
But is the Tigres manager that calm? Or is he a flight attendant during a turbulent trip, unable to let the passengers along for the ride see a bit of concern even as things are getting a little out of control?
Ruiz was thrust into the manager role at one of the biggest-spending and highest-demanding clubs in the region after Diego Cocca’s abrupt departure to take over the Mexico national team.
Already, he is on the hot seat. Tigres sit second in Liga MX, but last week’s home loss to Chivas and a Valentine’s Day snoozer of a draw against Juarez has some supporters asking when the ‘real’ manager will get here.
Tonight, Ruiz leads Tigres into a Concacaf Champions League game against a hungry, well-built Orlando City side. It’s a game he can’t lose. Saturday, it’s a home match against América in league play. That’s a game he can’t lose. Next Wednesday, it’s the return trip to Orlando - one he can’t lose. And it all gets capped off with a game he really can’t lose, the Clásico Regio against Monterrey.
The good news for Ruiz is that his team is getting depth back. After missing the last few matches with a calf issue, star forward Andre-Pierre Gignac is available for Tuesday’s match. Winter signings Diego Lainez and Nico Ibáñez continue to find where they fit into the stacked team. Ruiz may just be able to land this plane.
“We know it’s important to do well in both tournaments,” the manager said Monday. “Fortunately, we’re doing really well in the league and now, with this competition starting, we’ve got to take advantage of being at home. It’s a plus Andre is back. We know what he can do.
“Today we’re practicing with some changes we can show in the lineup to see what those guys can give us and start to manage some players’ minutes.”
Among other things, that likely means a rest for midfielder Guido Pizarro, but Ruiz must be careful he doesn’t take too much talent off the field against an Orlando City squad led by a manager who knows the tournament well.
Oscar Pareja took FC Dallas all the way to the semifinals in 2016-17, falling to eventual champion Pachuca. He later had a too-brief stint with Tijuana before settling into Central Florida.
The Colombian manager might not admit that this competition is a chance for him and his coaching staff to show they belong, not only in MLS or Liga MX but on the international stage. He won’t be facing the pressure Ruiz is, having delivered the U.S. Open Cup to Orlando and reversed the fortunes of the young MLS squad, but he absolutely has something to prove.
Pareja can frustrate teams in cup competitions, with his team staying patient and finding the right moment to attack, believing in the game plan he’s drawn up.
“Honestly, since I got here Oscar has given me - and I think all my teammates as well - a ton of confidence,” Orlando’s Uruguayan midfielder Facundo Torres said. “He’s a manager where you really understand the idea he wants and the style of play is really clear. I’ve felt comfortable with him since I got here.”
Our sample size is small for the Lions this season, but backed by goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and an impressive defensive core, plus Torres, Mauricio Pereyra and new arrival Martin Ojeda, it feels like a team that won’t be over-awed by the atmosphere. Orlando got the toughest draw in the tournament. No doubt about it. But it can either compete or complain.
If they can hang tonight, we may see the first signs of stress on Ruiz’s face.
What to watch for as the Concacaf Champions League returns
A super sendoff for the compact format
This is the final time we’ll ever see this format, with the expanded CCL going into effect later this year.
This format had a lot of strengths. It’s easy to understand. Everyone starts at the same time, plays home-and-home, and if you win you play on.
The bulked-up edition has strengths and should ultimately result in more frequent highly competitive matchups, but there was something to be said for the current edition.
MLS teams hope to make it back-to-back, but…
The big question was always if a team from MLS would finally win the Concacaf Champions League after more than a decade of Mexican dominance. Now, the question is whether or not a team from MLS can do it again.
I take no shine off the Seattle Sounders’ win. They had to take out two Mexican teams to win it and lifted the trophy fair and square.
But there was a reason I was writing in this space last year that it felt like MLS’ time to get a winner. There were two ‘grandes’, teams from Mexico’s traditional top four, that took part last year, but neither Cruz Azul nor Pumas entered the tournament in great shape. Neither Monterrey team, Tigres or Rayados, who traditionally have been dominant, qualified.
Even so, Pumas rescued its quarterfinal against the New England Revolution, beat Cruz Azul in the semi and got an OK result in the first leg of the final before fading.
This season, there are no grandes, but not only will Tigres be a factor, so too will a strong reigning champion in Pachuca and a team frustrated with its recent international struggles in León.1
Now that ‘the lid is off’ and we’ve seen an MLS team win this tournament, it does feel like a tighter competition. There is an entire half of the bracket absent a powerful Liga MX team. The path is there for an MLS team to be in position to double the league’s champion total.
But it’s hardly a guarantee anyone will.
Where’s the spoiler?
Last year, Comunicaciones of Guatemala got past the Colorado Rapids in the Round of 16 and put a scare in New York City FC in the quarterfinals. In 2020’s bubble edition, Honduran giant Olimpia made it to the semifinals.
Things definitely end up getting down to Liga MX vs. MLS (or Liga MX vs. Liga MX) in the final round or two, but there could be a team that makes things interesting and gets a famous victory or two.
There are three Honduran teams in the tournament thanks to their success in the Concacaf League. I have a tough time seeing any of that trio other than Olimpia getting through.
While Motagua and Real España are struggling to find their footing domestically, Olimpia is rolling along, once again led by Pedro Troglio, the manager who engineered the 2020 run to the semis. His team has tons of experience, with names like Boniek Garcia, Brayan Beckeles, Jerry Bengston and Juan Pablo Montes in the squad. Yet, there are younger players in their prime (Jorge Benguche) and up and comers (Edwin Rodriguez, Jack Jean-Baptiste).
The other team I have an eye on is Alajuelense. Liga is on fire in domestic play with an 8W-1L-2D record.
It also has plenty of old Concacaf heads (Johan Venegas, for one. He’s scored seven goals in his last four matches…Need I say more? Fine. Celso Borges, Giancarlo Gonzalez) but more young players than Olimpia. That could be seen as a bad thing, but in this case it feels like a positive. Aaron Suarez, Josimar Alcocer and Creichel Perez are names we’re going to get real familiar with in the region.
The biggest issue with spoiler potential? Playing LAFC. The reigning MLS Cup champion is going to have a talent advantage in this match and in most matches it plays in this competition, even after a minor exodus in the offseason.
LDA needs to have an excellent showing Thursday. Without home success, it’s tough to see the Costa Ricans upsetting Carlos Vela and Co.
I’ll be back later this week with a story on pro/rel in Mexico. Is it coming back? Should it? What even is happening in the second division? I’ve got the answers thanks to several interviews with Liga Expansion club presidents!
Atlas also is playing…yeah, moving on.
Personally, my favorite format was the three-team groups. I was really skeptical of it at first, but I loved the way the third games always mattered, even if the group winner was determined, because of the way the bracket was seeded.