What are the biggest victories for Liga MX clubs against MLS teams in the CONCACAF Champions Cup?

The 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup is in full flow and the inevitable comparisons between Liga MX and MLS have begun, with teams from the two leagues having already faced off against each other on several occasions. Tuesday’s fixtures, in particular, produced some eye-opening results.

Liga MX on top in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup

Although MLS has grown exponentially in recent years and clubs from the United States were the dominant force in the recently-revamped Leagues Cup, their Mexican counterparts have completely monopolised the CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly CONCACAF Champions League).

In the early stages of this year’s competition, Tigres have eliminated both Vancouver Whitecaps and Orlando City, while Pachuca handed Philadelphia Union a thrashing they are unlikely to forget in a hurry.

On Tuesday, Los Tuzos progressed to the quarter-finals in emphatic fashion by inflicting a 6-0 hammering on the Union at Estadio Hidalgo after the teams had played out a goalless draw in the first leg. Venezuelan striker Salomón Rondón was in unstoppable form, netting a hat-trick in the first hour of the game.

Pachuca record second biggest Mexican win against MLS team

Pachuca’s triumph is the second biggest a Liga MX team has ever recorded against opponents from north of the border.

There have been three five-goal victories in recent memory, the most recent of which saw Monterrey dismantle Sporting Kansas City in the 2019 semi-finals. Not only did Rayados win the first leg 5-0, they also scored five times in a 5-2 second-leg rout.

10 years earlier, Cruz Azul won by the same 5-0 scoreline in the group stage of the 2009-10 tournament against Columbus Crew, with Jimmy Lozano scoring three of his team’s goals.

In between, Santos Laguna posted two big victories against MLS sides in the space of three weeks in 2012. After thrashing Seattle Sounders 6-1 in the second leg of the 2011-12 quarter-finals, they defeated Toronto 6-2 in the second leg of the semis, scoring 14 goals overall against American opponents in a little over a month.

However, there is one result that stands above all others when it comes to the biggest Mexican victories against MLS opposition.

Cruz Azul 11 (ELEVEN) Seattle Sounders 0

The winners of the 1996 CONCACAF Champions Cup were decided by a final group stage, which pitted Cruz Azul against compatriots Necaxa, Guatemalan side Comunicaciones and Seattle Sounders.

After taking four points from their opening two matches, La Máquina won the tournament thanks to a historic 11-0 hammering of the American side, which seems unlikely to ever be beaten.

Carlos Hermosillo and Paraguayan attacker Julio César Yegros both helped themselves to hat-tricks, with further strikes from Juan Palencia, Héctor Adomaitis, Francisco Ramírez and Benjamín Galindo, as well as an own goal, earning Cruz Azul a fourth victory in the competition in the most devastating fashion possible.