MLS
Columbus Crew in CONCACAF Champions Cup: How many MLS teams have reached the final?
The 2023 MLS Cup champions have a 2-1 lead ahead of their semi-final second leg against Liga MX giants Monterrey.
Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy has been in charge of the team for less than 18 months, but already it’s difficult to recall a time before the front-foot Frenchman took the helm.
Nancy’s overhaul of an underperforming team was so swift, so complete, that the Crew finished his debut season as MLS Cup champions. Last year Columbus powered their way to a third championship and qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, where they now stand just two games from making history.
On Wednesday evening the Crew travel to Estadio BBVA for the second leg of their semi-final against Monterrey. They hold a 2-1 lead from the first encounter and were able to rest a number of key players in MLS last weekend. If they progress past the Liga MX giants they will become just the eighth American team since the inaugural CONCACAF tournament in 1962 to reach the final.
Can Columbus Crew continue MLS progress?
Across the long history of the Champions Cup - previously known as the CONCACAF Champions League - only three US sides have ever clinched the title. In the early days of MLS there were triumphs for DC United (1998) and LA Galaxy (2000), but a 17-year wait for the next success. That drought was ended in 2022 when the Seattle Sounders triumphed over UNAM Pumas in the final, recording a stunning 3-0 victory in the second leg at Lumen Field.
That Sounders success may seem like an outlier in historical terms but in recent years MLS teams have regularly progressed deep in the competition. LAFC were beaten finalists in both 2020 and 2023 and the Crew could become the fourth MLS team in five years to make it to the final if they can avoid defeat against Rayados.
But while the American influence is growing in continental competitions, also evidenced in Inter Miami’s 2023 Leagues Cup triumph, Liga MX remains the dominant force in CONCACAF. Mexican teams have won the competition 38 times, dwarfing the second-most successful nation, Costa Rica (six wins). Seattle’s landmark victory in 2022 ended a 16-year streak of Liga MX winners.
Monterrey out to eliminate another MLS team
In the previous round Monterrey ruthlessly dispatched a sub-par Inter Miami with a 5-2 aggregate victory. Miami had a man sent off in both legs of the quarter-final and were undone by the quality of the Mexican side’s finishing, with former FC Cincinnati forward Brandon Vazquez scoring twice.
But that result does not make Wednesday’s game a forgone conclusion. Miami, for all their stardust, are not yet a cohesive team and they do not possess a fully-formed style of play. The same can not be said of a Columbus team who were organised and hard-working in their first leg victory, qualities that Wilfried Nancy has instilled in the team.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” the Columbus head coach said of his team after the win at Lower.com Field. “Because we did a really good game in terms of when we had the difficult moments, we were together. And when we had the ball, we tried to play our game and we had good opportunities also. We were able to unbalance them.”
The Crew will need more of the same on Wednesday if they are to knock-out one of the pre-tournament favourites and secure a place in the final. In each of their four previous CONCACAF Champions journeys the Columbus Crew have been eliminated at the quarter-final stage. This year they’ve already gone one better and now have a place in the final in their sights.