Defining test at hand for Toronto FC
Reds have a chance to reverse Mexican teams’ dominance of CONCACAF Champions League
MTORONTO exican sides play with an annoying but deserved air of superiority in this competition. Their record against MLS sides in CONCACAF Champions League play has been near perfect since 2015.
Ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League quarter-final at BMO Field, Mexican teams have claimed each of the last seven series that have pitted MLS against Liga MX.
They’ve won those series with an enormous, if not baffling, plus-16 goal-difference.
Mexican sides haven’t just been dominant in this competition, they’ve been almost invincible, claiming all nine titles during the modern era of the tournament — an irrefutable statement of superiority that has perturbed MLS brass and supporters for close to a decade.
Tigres arrived in Toronto on Monday ready to do what Mexican sides have done for as long as anyone can remember: Bully TFC in yet another anticipated interleague matchup.
They’re here as an annual reminder of the unending gap in league-toleague quality.
But whether that continues appears to be more in question than ever before after Toronto FC, the undisputed best side in MLS history, made getting to this point a priority.
“Is it a defining moment? I don’t know,” TFC coach Greg Vanney told
reporters a day before the Reds open this two-leg quarter-final at home. “They’re the next team in our way.”
Expect Tigres to ask even more questions of a Toronto FC side that’s searching for answers following last Saturday’s MLS season-opening loss to visiting Columbus.
While Vanney said the disappointing defeat provided him necessary
“clarity” ahead of Wednesday night’s mammoth test, an air of uncertainty emanated from everyone else inside the stadium.
The Reds can hardly afford to be out-of-form ahead of this club-defining series.
“It’s an important test for us,” Vanney added. “I think we worked hard and did a lot of things last year and
have earned the right to be in this tournament, which was one of our objectives. Now (the objective) is to try and win this tournament.”
Expect Vanney to alter his approach after watching his side struggle to move the ball on the subpar BMO Field surface this past weekend. They’ll be far more comfortable playing a field position game in which chances are created off turnovers rather than the methodical buildups TFC fans became accustomed to during last year’s record season.
“It’s going to come down to not a whole lot of chances,” Vanney said prophetically.
It’s also going to come down to containing some of the best acting players in the Americas.
Ex-Premier League striker Enner Valencia, 28, has been extremely productive in his short time at Estadio Universitario. Chilean No. 9 Eduardo Vargas, 28, is a World Cup calibre striker who has played in each of the top four European leagues.
Frenchman Andre-Pierre Gignac, 32, has been unstoppable since arriving from Marseille three years ago.
“He’s a very, very good striker in the box in terms of finding space, getting open, getting things on goal, clever about different types of finishes,” Vanney said of Gignac. “You deal with him the way you deal with all good players: You have to be aware of him.”
Limiting the aforementioned trio’s touches will prove paramount. Perhaps Vanney gleaned something from how the Crew approached Saturday’s league fixture.
It’s going to be cold and rainy. The pitch will be worse than it has been in years — the perfect recipe to turn Wednesday’s contest into controlled chaos in the same way both Columbus and New York did during last year’s MLS playoffs.
“We know we have to play well and execute in key moments,” Vanney said. “When you get two good teams playing each other it comes down to (finishing) your chances and (protecting) your goal well. Those are key things we need to take care of in this match.”
Do that and the Red give themselves a chance to advance beyond next week’s return leg in Monterrey.