Match Preview: Vancouver Whitecaps vs Cruz Azul – finally, it’s the final

When the Whitecaps defeated Saprissa in the second leg of their tie back at the end of February, that result didn’t quite spark waves of excitement amongst the fanbase.

Eliminating Monterrey in the Round of 16? That got a bit more of a reaction. Then they did the same against Pumas. Then they took down Inter Miami in front of the club’s biggest crowd in decades, before doing it again on the road the following week.

Suffice to say, things have ramped up over the last three months. And now it all comes down to one final match, heading back down to Mexico City for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Final against Cruz Azul.

It’s undoubtedly the biggest night in the club’s MLS-era history, and in strong contention to be the biggest across any era of soccer in Vancouver. The ‘Caps have the chance to not just win an continental trophy, but to be the first Canadian team to ever win this competition and just the second MLS side to do so since the massive expansion of the tournament in 2008.

As a fun bonus, with a win the ‘Caps would also qualify for the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December where they would face off against the winner of this year’s Copa Libertadores, as well as qualify for the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

How many players from this year’s squad will even still be around in 2029? Who knows?! But it would still be a milestone moment. (For the record, the only players left from the 2021 squad are Ryan Gauld, Brian White, Pedro Vite, Ranko Veselinović, and Isaac Boehmer. And those first three all arrived midway through the season.)

Of course, the ‘Caps will sadly be without Gauld for Sunday’s final, a massive blow as the club’s captain continues to progress very slowly in his injury recovery. With Sebastian Berhalter also out due to yellow card accumulation, Jesper Sørensen will at least take solace in that his team has a clean bill of health otherwise.

The pair of key absences means a lot will be resting on the shoulders of Vite to provide that creative spark and link between the midfield and the attack. Assuming he isn’t tasked with playing as one of front three, he will likely be partnered with Andrés Cubas and J.C. Ngando, although Sørensen could also turn to Ralph Priso if he wants to try and focus on defensive stability.

Brian White is the second-leading scorer in this year’s Champions Cup with six goals, just one behind Cruz Azul’s Ángel Sepúlveda. White’s 10 goals in all competitions leads the team with more than double anyone else’s total, while Ali Ahmed leads the ‘Caps in assists with five.

Having the pace of likely two of Ahmed, Jayden Nelson, and Emmanuel Sabbi up front should help with counter-attacking threat, which could be quite important when facing a side in Cruz Azul that ranked second in Liga MX in average possession this season (57.2%). While the ‘Caps have enjoyed playing with the ball in their control for much of this year, they’ve ceded the possession battle in each of their last three CCC matches (the second leg against Pumas and both legs against Miami) and still came through in each of them.

While the duo of Veselinović and Tristan Blackmon picks itself at the back, both fullback spots are hotly contested. The duo of Édier Ocampo and Tate Johnson certainly held down the fort admirably in the absences of Mathias Laborda and Sam Adekugbe, but it may be hard for Sørensen to not go with his more veteran players, especially as they came into this season as the top options.

The ‘Caps come into Sunday riding a 15-match unbeaten streak, not losing in any competition since their 3-1 defeat to Chicago on March 22nd. On the other side, Cruz Azul had gone 19 matches without a loss before they fell to Club America in the second leg of their Liga MX Clausura semi-final tie two weeks ago.

Los Celestes were the top side across the two halves of the Mexican league regular season, with an impressive 22 wins, nine draws, and just three defeats, although they faltered in both the Apertura and Clausura playoff semi-finals, both times against Club America. They did eliminate their Mexico City rivals in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup, part of their road to the final that also included triumphs over Haiti’s Real Hope FA, Seattle, and Tigres.

The home side boasts plenty of dangerous attacking options, with Sepúlveda, Ignacio Rivero, and Carlos Rotondi all recording more than 20 goal contributions across all competitions this season. Cruz Azul are tied for the second-most CCC titles with six, although just one of them is from the 21st century (in 2014). This is also the first-ever meeting between them and the Whitecaps.

While they might enter as the underdogs, the ‘Caps have certainly been there before this season and come out on top. We’ll see if they can do it one more time!