After a disappointing result over the weekend in MLS play FC Cincinnati have the chance to turn the page quickly and refocus themselves on their next opponent as the Concacaf Champions Cup continues just two days after their league match.
FC Cincinnati hosts Liga MX giants and past Concacaf Champions Cup winners Tigres UANL at TQL Stadium on Tuesday night in Leg One of the Round of 16. In the opening round of the competition, FCC defeated FC Motagua 5-2 on aggregate, whereas Tigres defeated Nicaraguan side Real Esteli 3-1 after going down 1-0 in the opening leg.
Last season, FC Cincinnati made it to the Round of 16 in their debut appearance at the Concacaf Champions Cup but were eliminated from the competition by CF Monterrey at this stage.
"It's a different group with a lot of new faces, so we're focusing more on how we continue to grow and build relationships and strengthen the team," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Monday as to what they could learn from last year's tournament entrance. "For guys that have been a part of the competition, they can certainly help their teammates to better understand what it looks like. I've tried to message it in certain ways in a short amount of time, but we've already played two legs in this competition, so they got to see a glimpse of what it looks like. Now, it's a different opponent, and different circumstances, it's the next Round. So a little bit more time, a little bit more experience together, but we have to try to focus on this particular group and continuing to improve."
Both Noonan and multiple of his players have described Saturday night's 4-1 defeat in Philadelphia as a wake-up call and reminder of the work that still needs to be done. The quick turn to the next match makes preparations difficult but also gives the team an immediate chance at vindication.
"I think it was a wake up call…the feeling they gave us was a hard time. But you know, it's happened in soccer, and now I believe we learned from our mistakes," defender Teenage Hadebe said. "So, we are back in training, working on our mistakes. So hopefully, it won't happen in tomorrow's game."
"If we were going to play maybe next Saturday, it was going to be a long week for us. But the good thing is we are playing tomorrow, so it was a quick turnaround. We are looking forward to tomorrow's game... What matters now is that when you play in front of our fans we just have to go and come up with our best. Hopefully we'll make our fans smile tomorrow."
Like the opening Round of the Concacaf Champions Cup, this series will be played on a two-game aggregate. The second leg of this match will be played next Tuesday in Monterrey at Estadio Universitario aka El Volcán (The Volcano).
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FC CINCINNATI vs. Tigres UANL (LIGA MX) – Tuesday, March 4, 2025 – 6:30 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium*
Watch (English): FS2
Stream (English): FoxSports.com and Fox Sports App
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Against Liga MX
This will be the first time FC Cincinnati has taken on Tigres UANL, but The Orange and Blue are becoming more and more familiar with Liga MX every year. Tigres mark the fifth Liga MX club which FC Cincinnati will face, all time.
Across all competitions, FC Cincinnati are 3-2-1 in six prior matches against Mexican clubs. Last season’s Champions Cup run for FC Cincinnati ended in this Round in the Round of 16 - where CF Monterrey defeated Cincinnati, 3-1, on aggregate.
In addition to the two Monterrey clubs FC Cincinnati has seen in Tigres and CF Monterrey, FCC has also taken on Chivas, Santos, and Queretaro. All in Leagues Cup or and Leagues Cup Showcase action.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
At Home in Non-MLS play – Tuesday will mark the 34th non-MLS Regular Season match for FC Cincinnati since joining MLS in 2019. The club is 16-8-9 in the prior 33 matches, and 13-3-6 at home.
Tuesdays – This Tuesday’s match marks just the sixth match for FC Cincinnati, since 2019, to take place on a Tuesday. FC Cincinnati are unbeaten on Tuesdays - holding a 2-0-3 record on the day of the week. Nearly all of those matches have been non-MLS matches, stretching across the 2020 MLS is Back Tournament Knockout Stage and the U.S. Open Cup.
This week in FCC History – FC Cincinnati played their first ever MLS game on March 2, 2019 when they went to play Seattle Sounders for the opening game of the 2019 season. Leo Bertone gave FCC an early lead but Seattle would end up winning the match 4-1.
Quick Turns – Following Saturday’s loss at Philadelphia Union, the Orange and Blue will once again take the field on two-days rest. Despite the loss, FC Cincinnati historically are strong in matches in quick succession. Under Head Coach Pat Noonan, since 2022, FC Cincinnati are 17-6-6 in 29 matches playing a game just three days following another, across all competitions. Two of those six losses (6/24/23 at DC; 6/22/24 vs NE) came on Saturdays following midweek matchdays when FCC had a Wednesday game but their opponent did not.
SCOUTING TIGRES UANL (3rd in LIGA MX Clausura, 6-3-1, 19pts, qualified as 2023-2024 Apatura runners-up)
Tigres UANL, located in Monterrey, Mexico, come into this tournament with a wealth of experience and looking to add to their trophy case. Winners of this tournament in 2020 and runners-up in 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2019, Tigres are a perennial candidate for going all the way in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Founded in 1960 as the official team of the state university of Nuevo León (the region in Mexico Monterrey is in) Los Tigres have only spent one season outside the Mexican top division in their history. In 2023, they won their most recent league title, marking their eighth in league history by defeating Chivas in the final of the Clausura tournament that season.
They enter this match with a strange predicament, though, as the club announced immediately prior to departing for Cincinnati for the first leg of the Round of 16 matchup that they had relieved Head Coach Veljko Paunović of his post and elevated current defensive midfielder Guido Pizarro to the position with Pizarro retiring from play to take the job.
Pizarro, 35, made 388 appearances for Tigres in his 11-year career with them after joining from his native Argentina. He has also made four senior national team appearances for Argentina in his now-ended playing career. This match will be his first appearance as a coach in any capacity. His last professional appearance as a player was Saturday night in a 2-1 victory over Necaxa, where he played a full 90 minutes.
"The new coach was somebody that we anticipated being on the field, so I would say that's one component of the group that we see being different. Certainly a very experienced player, somebody that knows the club. So what that means for them internally? I don't know. Maybe good, maybe bad. We can't read too much into that," FC Cincinnati Head Coach Pat Noonan said Monday at his pre-match press conference. "What we have to think about is that the group they have is very strong, and understands how to compete. They understand this competition; have won this competition. So it's a good challenge, but we're going to try to focus on the group that we think we're going to see. We just have to be prepared now for things to maybe look different. Maybe there's some wrinkles in there that we're not expecting at the beginning of the game. But whoever they put out there, and even with this sudden change, it's a strong opponent that we're excited to match up against."
Juan Brunetta leads Tigres in goal scoring this season with five goals in the Clausura season. He scored the opening goal for Tigres in their last league match and has started all 10 games for them this season. An attacking midfielder from Argentina, Brunetta played for Santos in Liga MX prior to joining Tigres in January 2024.
Noted International forward Andre-Pierre Gignac has not appeared much for Tigres this season, logging just 78 minutes in three league appearances. The former French national team forward, now 39, joined Tigres in 2015 and has made over 400 appearances for the club and scored 219 goals.
Fellow 39-year-old goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman has started all 10 league matches for Tigres but took a red card in the 89th minute of their most recent league game. So while the match ban for that red card won't apply to the Concacaf Champions Cup, it could factor into a selection decision. Mexican keeper Fernando Tapia, on loan to Tigres from Queretaro FC, started in the first leg of their Round One matchup with Real Esteli. A game in which Tigres lost 1-0 to the host Nicaraguan side.
In both previous Concacaf Champions Cup matches, Tigres deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation with Brunetta at the center of the attacking midfield and Nicolás Ibánez as the lone striker. In their most recent match, newly added Brazilian center back Joaquim started alongside Jesus Angulo. In the previous Concacaf Champions Cup match, Pizzaro (who, again, is now Head Coach) started at center back.
