The 2019 Leagues Cup final will be an all-Liga-MX affair after Cruz Azul beat the LA Galaxy 2-1 in the second semifinal. Cruz Azul will face Tigres UANL in the final.
The game started off well for the visitors, and it didn’t take long for La Máquina to take the lead. In the 4th minute, José Madueña sent a shot from just outside the box in off the post to make it 0-1 for Cruz Azul early on.
Tigres UANL scored a last-second equalizer to tie América 2-2 and send this semifinal to a penalty shootout; the universitarios then bested the Águilas 5-3 from the spot to earn their place in the final of the inaugural Leagues Cup.
Tigres started the game on the front foot, and their attacking pressure soon paid off. In the 14th minute, Jürgen Damm got past Jesús López on the wing and sent a low cross into the box. The unfortunate Paul Aguilar sent the ball into the back of his own net when he tried to cut out the cross, making it 0-1 for Tigres with his own-goal.
The new inter-league competition between Liga MX and MLS continues this week with the semifinal round. Just four teams from each league are competing this year, although expansion for 2020 has already been announced.
Liga MX teams dominated the quarterfinals, with three out of four advancing to this round, while just one Major League Soccer team moved on. The remaining four teams will now face off for a chance to contest the final.
In the event of a tie at the end of regulation, the game will go directly to a penalty shootout to determine advancement; no extra time will be played.
All times Eastern.
The Campeones Cup pits the winner of the previous MLS Cup against the winner of Liga MX’s Campeón de Campeones. In the inaugural 2018 edition, Tigres UANL beat Toronto FC.
This year, it was MLS’s turn, as Atlanta United came from behind to beat Club América 3-2.
The game started off well for the hosts, with Atlanta taking the lead in just the 5th minute. Dion Pereira played in Emerson Hyndman, whose low shot to the far post made it 1-0 for the MLs side.
The Campeones Cup is back for its second edition. The match pits the Major League Soccer champion against the winner of Liga MX’s Campeón de Campeones, and for the 2019 edition, that means it’s Atlanta United vs Club América.
Atlanta is currently sitting in second place in MLS’s Eastern Conference with 42 points, the product of 13 wins, 3 draws, and 9 losses in their 25 games to date; they’ve won four of their last five.
The current Liga MX season started less than a month ago, but América is unbeaten so far. The Águilas are in third place with 10 points, the product of three wins and a draw.
All times Eastern, home team listed first.
Campeones Cup
Wednesday, August 14
Atlanta vs América – 8:00 PM – Univision Deportes / ESPN2
The inaugural edition of the Leagues Cup got underway this past week, with four Liga MX and four MLS teams going head to head in the quarterfinals. Three of the four Mexican representatives moved on to the semifinals, which will be held in Houston and Los Angeles in August.
Quarterfinal results
Chicago Fire 0-2 Cruz Azul
LA Galaxy 2-2 Tijuana (LA advanced 3-1 on penalties)
Houston Dynamo 1-1 América (América advanced 6-5 on penalties)
Real Salt Lake 0-1 Tigres UANL
The new inter-league competition between Liga MX and MLS kicks off this week with the quarterfinal round. Just four teams from each league are competing this year, although expansion for 2020 has already been announced.
For the inaugural 2019 edition, the four Major League Soccer teams will host the quarterfinals, which are single-elimination games. In the event of a tie at the end of regulation, the game will go directly to a penalty shootout to determine advancement; no extra time will be played.
All times Eastern, home team listed first.
The inaugural Leagues Cup hasn’t even started yet, but the new tournament is already set to expand in 2020. The current competition, which kicks off July 23rd, features four teams from Liga MX and four from Major League Soccer. Next year, it will be eight from each league.
Qualifying for the 2020 Leagues Cup will be based on regular-season performances for MLS clubs, where the top four teams in each conference not already qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League will make up the Leagues Cup representatives.
A new inter-league competition between Liga MX and Major League Soccer was announced on Wednesday: the Leagues Cup.
The Leagues Cup will feature four teams from each league and will start in July. For this edition, the four Liga MX teams were selected based on recent competition results, while the four MLS teams were invited; in future editions, currently unspecified sporting criteria will determine the participants.
This year’s participants are: Club América, Cruz Azul, Tigres UANL, and Tijuana for Liga MX; and Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, LA Galaxy, and Real Salt Lake for MLS.
Liga MX and Major League Soccer have announced a new annual competition between the two leagues. The Campeones Cup will be a one-game event between the champions of the two leagues.
The Campeones Cup will debut in September, when the reigning 2017 MLS champions, Toronto FC, will host the winner of the 2018 Campeón de Campeones at BMO Field.
The Campeón de Campeones, held annually in July, is a one-game event between the winners of the most recent Apertura and Clausura Liga MX seasons. The winner of that game will face the MLS champion in this new inter-league competition.
