MIAMI, Florida – Concacaf heavyweights Monterrey of Liga MX will welcome in FC Cincinnati of Major League Soccer (MLS) to the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey for the second leg of their 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16 series on Thursday night.
These two teams, among the best in their domestic leagues, played to an exciting finish in last week’s first leg in Cincinnati where five-time Concacaf champions Monterrey showed their pedigree and experience by earning a 1-0 win away from home.
It was former FC Cincinnati striker Brandon Vazquez getting the game-winning goal for Rayados, who now have gone 14 games without losing in Champions Cup competition. It was also the sixth away win in the last seven matches for Monterrey in the Champions Cup.
In the last nine series in which they have won the first leg, Monterrey have gone on to win the series, so they will be aiming to make it 10 on Thursday night.
With his score from last week, Vazquez now has two goals in the tournament. Maximiliano Meza provided the assist on the Vazquez goal, giving him five career Champions Cup assists, while Jesus Gallardo made 44 passes, giving him 124 thus far in this Champions Cup.
FC Cincinnati will be aggressive from the opening whistle in search of a goal to try to get back on level terms on aggregate.
They certainly had their fair share of chances at home last week, mostly through Aaron Boupendza, who took six shots, giving him a total of 12 for the tournament. Luciano Acosta was his usual playmaking self in the center of the park for FC Cincinnati and has eight shots in the tournament, while drawing three fouls.
FC Cincinnati will also require a big defensive performance. Center back Matt Miazga leads the way. He completed 98 percent of his passes in the first leg against Rayados and led all players in the Round of 16 with 89 passes.
Match Officials CF Monterrey (MEX) vs FC Cincinnati (USA)
REF: JUAN GABRIEL CALDERON (Costa Rica)
AR1: JUAN CARLOS MORA (Costa Rica)
AR2: WILLIAM ARRIETA (Costa Rica)
4TH: KEYLOR HERRERA (Costa Rica)
VAR: DANEON PARCHMENT (Jamaica)
VAR1: TRISTLEY BASSUE (Saint Kitts and Nevis)
