February 13 – The 2025 Leagues Cup schedule has been released and brought smiles to the faces of the Mexican clubs and Liga MX officials after a number of concessions were granted to clubs south of the border.
Liga MX champions, Club America, and the next five top-ranked clubs will travel less and have hosting privileges based on Leagues Cup rankings.
As with any new tournament teething problems always occur and for the second straight year logistical changes have been made to accommodate the Mexican teams. Last year regional hubs were put in place for these teams after Liga MX officials complained about the tournament structure, which seemingly favoured the Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs.
“So much more organisation is needed. Things have to be more fair.”
Those were the words of Jose Antonio Noriega, the sporting director of CF Monterrey as his team was about to play LAFC in the 2023 semi-final. “It’ll be our fifth game while LA(FC) will be home with their players eating dinner with their families every night, going to the movies, resting. There’s so much that needs to be improved and hopefully they do that, because this is not good at all.”
This year, Club America will play Real Salt Lake in Salt Lake City before having two matches in Texas against MLS clubs. Should they advance, they will have venue privileges through to the semi-final stage, except if they are drawn to play the current MLS Champions, the LA Galaxy, who have venue privileges throughout the tournament.
The organisers have also noted that the attendances when MLS clubs play one another is poor, so to boost the interest, all group-stage matches and quarterfinals will feature MLS versus Liga MX contests.
Due to the nature of the calendar, for Mexican teams, this tournament has a preseason feel to it, while MLS clubs are hitting their groove which has led to Mexican pundits giving the tournament a thumbs down as performances have not been up to par.
2023 winners, Inter Miami, will begin the competition by playing three straight matches at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, giving their superstar, Lionel Messi plenty of home comforts.
The tournament will run from July 29 to August 31 giving football fans a two-week break after the final of the FIFA World Club Cup.
Contact the writer of this story, Nick Webster, at moc.l1740309501labto1740309501ofdlr1740309501owedi1740309501sni@o1740309501fni1740309501