March 13, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – FC Cincinnati News Release
FC Cincinnati will face an entirely new challenge Thursday night when they take on Liga MX-leading CF Monterrey in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. The Orange and Blue are down 1-0 in aggregate scoring and need to earn a winning result to advance in the tournament.
Playing must-win games in the club’s history hasn’t been uncommon. Time in the MLS Cup Playoffs, Leagues Cup, U.S. Open Cup and even the MLS is Back tournament have put The Orange and Blue in positions like this. But those games have entered kickoff at even footing, not down a goal. In Round One, FCC put Cavalier FC in the position, taking a 2-0 lead into leg two, but now see the shoe on the other foot.
Fortunately for FC Cincinnati, the calculus of advancing is very simple. A win moves you on. There is no other aggregate math or complicating scoreline watching. If FCC earns a win, they’re onto the quarterfinals; anything else than that, and they go back to regular season play, and extracurricular matchups pause until the summer for the Leagues Cup.
“We understand the scoreline, but we have to win a game,” head coach Pat Noonan said of the match. “We’ll navigate (the aggregate), but we understand that if it’s a scoreline other than one-nil, we need to win the game to advance. So it’s pretty straightforward, but it won’t be as simple once the game starts and how we get there.”
It is comforting to know that some Herculean effort is not needed to advance. It will just take beating the best Liga MX side in the league and the top club in the Concacaf Club Index in their stadium to advance. Simple … right?
Obviously, not so much, but the performance in leg one warrants optimism. Despite the 1-0 loss a week ago, FCC looked the stronger side for most, if not all, of the match, creating chance after chance but finding themselves unable to finish a goal. Rayados, on the other hand, had few chances, but capitalized on the one they got, connecting a full-field counter to score on a Brandon Vazquez shot inside the penalty area.
That balance makes a winning result not only feel possible, but also in reach.
“I think the performance from the first leg was really strong,” Noonan added, highlighting how much of the squad he would utilize in leg two, which got FCC to this point in leg one. “The big moments where we are in good spots to score goals is where we’re lacking and where we are accustomed to seeing those plays…
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