CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP
Who will Inter Miami or Monterrey play in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals?
Club América and Columbus Crew booked their last-four spots in contrasting fashion against New England Revolution and Tigers on Tuesday night.
Two of the four semi-finalists in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup are now known after Club América emphatically rounded off their tie against New England Revolution on Tuesday night and Columbus Crew sneaked past Tigres. Monterrey and Inter Miami face off in the pick on Wednesday’s quarter-finals.
América and Columbus Crew victorious in Tuesday’s quarter-finals
There was little doubt Las Águilas would feature in the last four after a thumping 4-0 win at Gillette Stadium last week, although a second big victory over The Revs in six days has made everyone sit up and take notice. André Jardine’s team triumphed 5-2 at Estadio Azteca to run out 9-2 aggregate winners.
While Liga MX came out on top in one semi-final, MLS did so in another, but only just. Tigres and the Crew played out a second consecutive 1-1 draw at Estadio Universitario, with Diego Rossi’s second-half strike cancelling out André-Pierre Gignac’s early opener. Despite Cucho Hernández’s miss in the shoot-out, Gignac and Guido Pizarro both failed to score for the Mexicans, enabling Columbus to win 4-3 from the spot.
The Crew set up semi-final against Inter Miami or Rayados
As a result of their victory in San Nicolás de los Garza, Columbus Crew will now face either Inter Miami or Monterrey, who play the second leg of their semi-final on Wednesday. Rayados won the first leg 2-1 in Florida, leaving Lionel Messi and Co with serious work to do in Nuevo León.
The Herons and The Crew have yet to face each other in 2024, although they did meet twice last year, with a 2-2 draw at Chase Park following a 2-1 win for Miami in Ohio. Both matches took place before Messi started playing for the club.
When are the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals?
The second semi-final will almost certainly be an all-Mexican affair, with América taking on Pachuca.
Los Tuzos defeated Costa Rican team Herediano 5-0 away from home in the first leg of their last-eight clash and will surely have little difficulty completing the job on Wednesday.
The first legs of the semi-finals will be played on either Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 or Thursday 25 April, while the return matches following on Tuesday 30 April, Wednesday 1 or Thursday 2 May.