COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — On Saturday night, the Crew will play in another final and seek a historic achievement.
The Crew will face Mexican club C.F. Pachuca at 9:15 p.m. at Estadio Hidalgo in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. Columbus has never played in the final of a continental cup, and this one offers multiple prizes.
The winner will book a place in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, the first 32-team edition of the tournament scheduled to be played in the United States.
Here are a few things to know for one of the Crew’s biggest games in club history.
Pachuca’s pedigree
Club de Futbol Pachuca was founded 123 years ago and has an expansive trophy cabinet. Los Tuzos (the Gophers) had trophies pouring in as the millennium turned.
The club won its first Liga MX title in 1999 and has won six more since. What Pachuca has that Columbus does not is trophies in continental competitions. It has won the Champions Cup five times, the third most in the competition’s history.
Its most recent title came in 2017, which earned them a Club World Cup spot. Pachuca has even won a continental cup in South America, winning the 2006 Copa Sudamericana.
Path to the final
Both the Crew and Pachuca were two of five teams to earn a bye to the Round of 16 for the 27-team tournament. Columbus earned its spot as the 2023 MLS Cup winner, and Los Tuzos got its spot as the top team over the 2022-23 Liga MX season.
The Crew had a difficult path to the final, starting with eliminating the Houston Dynamo in the Round of 16. The Crew kept making history by taking out two of Mexico’s most iconic clubs — UANL Tigres in the quarterfinals via a penalty shootout win in Mexico and Monterrey with a 5-2 aggregate semifinal victory.
While the Crew’s path has required some hard-fought performances, Pachuca has mostly breezed its way through. Its journey began with a 6-0 aggregate thrashing of the Philadelphia Union followed by a 7-1 aggregate victory over Costa Rican club Herediano.
Pachuca’s toughest matches came in the semifinals against Club America. After a 1-1 draw on the road in the first leg, Pachuca held on to a 2-1 lead at home in the second leg to make the final.
Players to watch
Columbus hopes attackers Diego Rossi and Jacen Russell-Rowe can keep their current form. Both scored goals in each of the Monterrey matches and have stepped up in MLS play in recent weeks with the absence of Cucho Hernandez, who has missed the last three games because of a back injury.
With the possibility of Hernandez missing the final, the Crew having an in-form strike force has the players confident they can win in Mexico again. A midfield led by Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris always gives the Crew the edge in playing its possession-centric style.
The Crew defense will have its hands full with Pachuca striker and the Champions Cup’s top scorer Salomon Rondon. The Venezuelan has scored seven goals during CONCACAF play and is a physical striker who can bully defenders for key chances.
Manager Guillermo Almada will also look to defenders Luis Rodriguez and Gustavo Cabral to stop the Crew’s attack and midfielders Nelson Deossa and Oussama Idrissi to create chances and give service to Rondon.
Polar opposite momentums
Unlike many other continental cup finals this year, CONCACAF has two teams that are in different portions of their seasons.
The Crew enters this final fresh off a three-game road winning streak. Being in good form entering the final will bode well for a team that will try to control the pace of play.
On the other end, Pachuca finished the 2023-24 Liga MX season in seventh place and fell in the playoff quarterfinals. Its last match was on May 11, with this final being Pachuca’s first game in three weeks. Whether Los Tuzos enters with fresh legs or lacks match sharpness will be a big question.