The Columbus Crew heads into the second leg of their semifinal series in the Concacaf Champions Cup against Monterrey on Wednesday with a 2-1 lead.
Last week’s victory at home in the first leg is its only outright win in its last eight games. The other seven games have all ended in ties, five in MLS and two in the Champions Cup quarterfinals against Tigres, which it eliminated in a shootout.
A tie on Wednesday in Monterrey, of course, will be enough to send it through to the final for the first time.
Since Wilfried Nancy has taken over the Crew, it is unbeaten against Mexican teams. It also beat Club America 4-1 in the 2023 Leagues Cup group stage. He said his team is proud of how it has done, but it simply wants to compete.
• What They’re Saying: “I like to play Mexican teams,” Nancy said on Tuesday. “I like the passion. I like what they do. I like the emotions.”
• Pachuca 2 Club América 1. Pachuca won its series 3-2 on aggregate and advanced to the final, where it will be seeking its sixth title in six trips.
Pachuca led on goals by Emilio Rodriguez and Nelson Deossa two minutes apart in the first quarter of an hour.
American Alejandro Zendejas set up Henry Martin in the 23rd minute to reduce Los Tuzos’ lead, but América never found the second goal that would have put it through to the final on the away goals tiebreaker.