This Saturday, the Columbus Crew have a chance to become the second MLS team in the modern era to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
If the Crew can pull off the win, what will it mean for the team, fresh off winning the MLS Cup in December?
Paul Tenorio covers soccer as a senior writer for The Athletic.
Rand: Pro soccer can be a little confusing. Can you start by explaining what CONCACAF Champions Cup is and how big a deal this is for Columbus to be competing in the final?
Tenorio: So every area of the world has its own governing body. So in the United States, North America, the Caribbean and Central America, it's called CONCACAF. That's the name of the federation.
In Europe it's UEFA. And as a part of what those federations do, they usually host a continental competition, not just for the national teams, which we've seen with the Gold Cup in the Nations League for the United States. We'll see this summer. CONMEBOL, the South American federation, is hosting its tournament here in North America, the Copa America, along with the CONCACAF teams.
But they also have club competitions, usually called the Champions League. I think a lot of soccer fans or casual sports fans might be more familiar with the UEFA Champions League. This is the CONCACAF version of it.
So the top teams from Major League Soccer, from Costa Rica, from El Salvador, from Honduras, from the the Caribbean countries and Mexico all taking part in one competition. And we've whittled ourselves down to this. It starts off with the group phase and gets into a knockout round. And now here we are down to the final two.
And it historically has been a competition dominated by the Mexican teams, as you noted, the Columbus Crew would be just the second team of the modern era to win this tournament out of MLS. So it would be quite a prestigious feat if they can pull it off.
Rand: The Crew will face Mexican football team Pachuca on Saturday. How tough is this team?
Tenorio: It's a very difficult team. You know, what's interesting is there's been a pretty large debate about where MLS is in comparison to the Mexican League. And I think what you'll see is that typically the Mexican teams are deeper than Major League Soccer teams.
So while MLS teams might have the bigger stars, the higher paid designated players, Mexican teams have several players, you know, maybe 10 or 12 making a million or more. And that's where I think you see in this competition that MLS teams struggle is that when we get late in games, you see Mexican teams making substitutions, MLS teams making substitutions, and the level kind of changes there.
So Pachuca is a solid team. They're not one of the traditional powerhouses. I think when you think of like the teams that have been winning Champions League, you think of Tigres and Club America. Chivas, of course, is one of the more historic clubs in Mexico. But Pachuca has a great history as well. And they're going to be a very, very tough out for Columbus.
Rand: You know, a lot of people here in Columbus really do love their Crew. And of course, this is a team that almost left town just a few years ago, saved by the fans. And now they have two MLS Cup victories under their belts since then. As a kind of an impartial outside observer, I'm curious to hear your take on what makes this team so special.
Tenorio: Wilfried Nancy, first of all, is the best coach in Major League Soccer, so we should start there. He came in, and the way they play, it's a really attractive style of soccer. He has this team humming.
Obviously he wasn't the coach though of the first MLS Cup. So I would start by saying that the Crew have the best GM in the league, Tim Bezbatchenko, the best coach in the league, Wilfried Nancy, and that helps a lot.
But Nancy said something I think that was important after the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal win, which is that when he moved here, he told his wife this is a special place because the fans saved the team and that's a part of the ethos of the club. It's their identity and I think that can go a long way.
When you believe you have the city behind you, when you believe you're playing for something special, that pushes a team to higher levels. And we've certainly seen that with Columbus last year and, I think, with this run in the Champions Cup as well.
