Major League Soccer and Liga MX on Wednesday announced changes to this summer's second League Cup, including creating regional hubs for top Liga MX teams to reduce travel. Once again, all 47 clubs from the U.S., Mexican and Canadian leagues will participate in a nearly month-long tournament that suspends both leagues' regular seasons.
The group phase of the tournament will be highlighted by a matchup between Chivas de Guadalajara and LA Galaxy. Chivas recently re-signed former Galaxy center forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
Inter Miami, defending League Cup champions, will face two Mexican teams, Tigres UNAL and Club Puebla, in the first round. Last summer's tournament marked Lionel Messi's Inter Miami debut. The Argentina national team captain and current Ballon d'Or winner went on to score 10 goals in seven games, leading his new team to the title against Nashville SC.
Messi's introduction to soccer in North America led to the first League Cup, but the tournament's flaws, particularly the referees and the format that favored MLS teams, became a hot topic in Mexico. True home-field advantage was something Liga MX teams would never have in 2023, as no League Cup matches were held in Mexico. Logically, that won't change this summer. The Mexican team will play in the United States during the tournament.
However, the League Cup selection committee will come up with a plan that aims to put Liga MX's biggest clubs in front of US-based fans. Nevertheless, Liga MX executives and league president Mikel Arriola went public with their dissatisfaction last summer.
“We need so much organization. Things have to be more fair,” CF Monterrey sporting director Manuel Noriega said in August. “There are a lot of things to improve on, and I hope they improve, because this is not good at all.”
Arriola agreed.
“The League Cup Dual Committee has to listen to those voices to represent our club,” he said before last summer's League Cup final. “We will use that analysis to make changes next year, especially to make the playing field more level.”
Those concerns appear to have been resolved. A tiered ranking system grants the highest ranked teams in Liga MX certain privileges, such as reduced travel and the possibility of playing at a given venue as the home team. Rankings are determined by combining club performance in MLS and Liga MX. MLS teams will be ranked based on their 2023 MLS Supporters Shield standings, and LIGA MX clubs will be ranked based on their 2023 Clausura and Apertura total of 34 games.
Club América (Liga MX champion with a bye) will host until the semi-finals, CF Monterrey (ranked 1st) until the round of 16, Chivas Guadalajara (4th place) until the round of 32, and Tigres (2nd place) host until the round of 16. get. 6) Through the group stage.
Overall, attendance figures for the League Cup were disappointing. For example, fewer than 1,000 fans reportedly attended the All Liga MX match between Mazatlan and FC Juarez at Q2 Stadium in Austin. It will be interesting to see whether these changes improve or further complicate an already controversial tournament.
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(Top photo provided by: MLS)
