2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup Liga MX 1st Round 2nd Leg Review

Finishing of the First Round for Liga MX clubs in the Champions Cup

The second leg for the first round of the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup for the clubs from Liga MX continued during this second week in February; we would see if the big boys would move on or would get a possible upset heading for the second round.

MONTERREY 3:0 HAMILTON FORGE

MONTERREY WINS ON AGGREGATE 5:0

As the series moved down to the Estadio BBVA, Monterrey took care of business to move on to the round of 16. German Berterame scored a brace as he converted his first goal in the 19th minute. That automatically signaled the end of the series for Hamilton Forge. He got his second goal in the 58th minute to finish the night off. Jordi Cortizo scored the second goal of the night just a few minutes after the restart of the match in the 48th minute.

CRUZ AZUL 5:0 REAL HOPE

CRUZ AZUL WINS ON AGGREGATE 7:0

Another no contest for the Liga MX side as Cruz Azul took down Real Hope from Haiti. Two players scored a brace as Angel Sepulveda got two within three minutes in the 21st and 24th minutes, Gabriel Fernandez Leites got his brace in the 26th minute and the 75th minute, and Andres Montano Mora scored his only goal at the hour mark.

GUADALAJARA 3:0 CIBAO

GUADALAJARA WINS ON AGGREGATE 4:1

This one was going to be an interesting tie after the draw in the first leg, but Guadalajara showed why they are one of the better sides in Mexico and CONCACAF. Fernando Beltran scored the opening goal in the 22nd minute, but all the goals came in the second half as Chicharito scored in the 55th minute, then the last goal came from Armando Gonzalez in the 78th minute to end the scoring.

TIGRES 3:0 REAL ESTELI

TIGRES WINS AGGREGATE 3:1

After the one goal victory by the Nicaraguan club at home, they were going to try and make a huge upset at the Universitario to complete it. It was all over before the second leg began. Ozziel Herrera quickly leveled the aggregate in the second minute, then Diego Lainez gave Tigres the lead in the 14th minute. Juan Pablo Vigon toward the back end of the match scored in the 85th minute.

PUMAS 2:0 CAVALRY FC

PUMAS WINS ON AGGREGATE 3:2

After that huge victory over Pumas in Calgary, Cavalry was trying their best to make a name for themselves and truly put the Canadian Premier League on the map for a possible giant-killing against Pumas. The first half was scoreless but the big moment came for the Canadians when Jay Herdman was sent off late in the opening half and put his side down to ten men. Ignacio Pussetto had his penalty stopped by Marco Carducci and it felt as if there could be some magic in the air.

Eventually, the substitute Guillermo Martinez scored two goals his first one in the 53rd minute leveled the aggregate and the away goal they scored in the first leg gave them the advantage, but to cement the tie he scored his second goal in the 74th minute and Pumas edges Cavalry FC on the aggregate. Give Tommy Wheeldon Jr. a lot of credit for managing his side to a well-fought tie in the Champions Cup, I thought this one was going to be the upset special.

For the next two weeks, it's MLS's turn to see which clubs will advance to the round of 16 and face either a Liga MX Club, the Caribbean Champion, the Central American Champion, or one of their own. This should be a fun time at the back end of the month.