FC Cincinnati look to secure a spot in the knockout round of Leagues Cup in their inter-league match of the tournament, taking on the historic C.D. Guadularaja, a.k.a. Chivas Guadalajara, in their second and final match of group play.
The mission for head coach Pat Noonan and his club is simple: plenty of scenarios could lead to The Orange and Blue qualifying for the further rounds of the tournament, but there is an easy answer present.
“We can do all the numbers … if we win our second game, we’re at the top of the group. So that’s the math that I know,” Noonan said following the club’s penalty kicks victory over Sporting Kansas City in its first match of Leagues Cup. “I try not to figure out the rest because if we take care of business in our second game, we’ll be at the top of the group; and that’s the goal.”
The match with Chivas represents the best that MLS and Liga MX have to offer, as both teams enter the newly formed tournament top of the table in their current leagues.
Chivas, which translates to “The Goats,” is riding a three-game winning streak heading into Leagues Cup play.
FC CINCINNATI vs Chivas Guadalajara – Thursday, July, 27, 2023 – 8:00 p.m. ET – TQL Stadium
Stream: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
TV Talent (English): Dre Cordero (PxP), Jamie Watson (Analyst)
TV Talent (Spanish): Pablo Ramirez (PxP), Jesus Bracamontes (Analyst)
Radio: ESPN 1530
Radio Talent: Tom Gelehrter (play-by-play), Kevin McCloskey (Analyst)
A brief history of Chivas
C.D. Guadalajara, more commonly known as “Chivas,” is one of Mexico’s most prestigious soccer clubs and was a founding member of the Primera Division, which would later become Liga MX in the 2012-2013 seasons.
Since the founding of Mexico’s first division of professional football in 1943, Chivas is one of seven clubs to have never been relegated and is historically one of the most successful clubs in the country’s history, winning the second most league championships with 12 titles and finishing as runners-up 10 times.
Liga MX operates in two 18 game seasons that they call tournaments, the Clausura and Apertura. The Clausura runs from January to May, and Apertura from July to December. Each season also features a playoff format that features the top 12 teams in the league.
Guadalajara has the most Campeón de Campeones titles with seven, which pits the winners of the two seasons against each other for a cup final. They have notably not won the crown since 1970.
Chivas finished third in 2023’s Clausura season (six points out of first), lost in Liga MX’s championship finals and currently sit in first place in the Apertura with a 3-0-0 record.
If the name Chivas is familiar to you in MLS, that’s because from 2004-2014, a club owned by C.D. Guadalajara played in MLS called Chivas USA. The club shared branding with its parent club in Mexico and played its home matches in Carson, California. After 10 seasons, the club was sold back to MLS and ceased operations.
ALL-TIME SERIES
FC Cincinnati and Chivas have met in the 2022 Leagues Cup showcase marking the only other match between the two clubs. FC Cincinnati pulled out the 3-1 victory in the friendly on September 21, 2022, with goals from Yuya Kubo, Calvin Harris and Brandon Vazquez.
FC CINCINNATI NOTES
Key Creators: With six key passes in FC Cincinnati’s opener with Sporting Kansas City, Álvaro Barreal leads Leagues Cup play in key passes completed. Luciano Acosta, who earned a goal and an assist, in addition to the key cross on an own goal, is in second place with four key passes.
FCC led all clubs on matchday one with 2.25 expected assists. No other club had more than 1.65.
PK Finisher: With a penalty kick goal at the end of regular time, Acosta earned his sixth PK conversion of the season across all competitions and his fourth in as many games.
Acosta also converted his opportunity from the spot in the penalty shootout, the second time he has done so this season after converting in FCC’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open match with New York Red Bulls. Acosta is 8-of-9 from the spot in all situations.
Still TQL Stadium: While FC Cincinnati will be the visitors for the match with Chivas, they will be surrounded by the fortress that is TQL Stadium. This season, The Orange and Blue are undefeated across all competitions, owning a 14-0-2 record at their home grounds.
Central 3: FC Cincinnati will look to advance from the Central 3 group, composed of FCC, Sporting KC and Chivas Guadalajara. To advance, The Orange and Blue must finish in the top two of the group.
In Leagues Cup group play, a regulation win is worth three points, and should there be a draw at the end of regular time, penalty kicks will decide the winner, awarding two points for a PK victory and one point for a PK loss.
Should FCC advance, the club will face either the winner or runner-up of Central 4 (Nashville SC, Colorado Rapids, Toluca) between August 2-4.
Neutral Site: Due to the nature of the Leagues Cup, TQL Stadium will operate as a neutral site, representing the home and away squads equally in all game presentations.
In this instance, due to Leagues Cup seeding, FC Cincinnati will technically operate as the away side, with Chivas being the home team. It is the first game in FCC history that they’ve played as an away team at TQL Stadium.
Scouting Chivas (3-0-0, 9 PTS., 1st in Liga MX Apertura season)
Chivas is off to a hot start in Liga MX, winning each of their three matches in the Apertura season that opened earlier this month. The “Striped Goats” are looking to build off a strong first season of 2023, where they finished in third place just six points behind league winners C.F. Monterey in Clausura.
Chivas is led by Serbian manager Veljko Paunović, who has plenty of MLS experience, having played for the Philadelphia Union and later managing Chicago Fire FC. Paunović joined Chivas in October 2022 and owns a 15-6-5 record since arriving.
The Liga MX-leading side has been without its star forward to open its Apertura season, but announced his return earlier this month. Alexis Vega, who has 25 goals in 130 matches with the club, is set to return for the game with FC Cincinnati. Vega was a part of Mexico’s World Cup team in 2022 and wears the number 10 jersey for Chivas.
Fernando Beltran, a midfielder with two goals in three matches, is the current leading goalscorer for Chivas. Victor Guzmán captains the side; the 28-year-old Guadalajara native joined Chivas from Pachuca in 2022 and has appeared in 18 matches with the club, scoring seven times.
Miguel Jiménez Ponce has started all three matches for the Goats, allowing two goals in three games and earning a clean sheet in the club’s most recent fixture against Necaxa.
