Monterrey suffers humbling defeat at hands of MLS champs Columbus Crew
Did Monterrey peak too early?
That’s the question after the Rayados’ recent stunning fall from the ranks of the unbeaten in two separate tournaments.
Monterrey was sitting atop the Liga MX table as the lone unbeaten in the league (8-4-0) as they prepared to host Guadalajara in a Matchday 13 contest back on March 30.
The Chivas – 4-4-4 at the time, and outside of the top 10 – stunned the Rayados 2-0, sending Fernando Ortiz’s team on a downward spiral.
The 1-1-3 finish to the Clausura 2024 saw Monterrey slip to 4th place and a first-round playoff match-up against crosstown rivals Tigres who are aiming to reach their third Liga MX final in a row.
Concacaf campaign takes similar downward trajectory
In early April, Monterrey manhandled MLS giants Inter Miami to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal series against the defending MLS champions Columbus Crew.
The Rayados showed up for the first-leg contest in Columbus on April 24 with a perfect 6-0-0 record in the CCC, but came away with a 2-1 loss in which the Crew outplayed the Liga MX behemoth.
Surely things would be different back home for the second leg at the Estadio BBVA Bancomer where Monterrey was 8-3-1 in all competitions this season.
Instead, Columbus demonstrated that they are the real deal, again outplaying the Rayados and walking out of “El Gigante de Acero” with a 3-1 victory, advancing to the final on the basis of the 5-2 aggregate scoreline.
Now, Monterrey fans have to wonder if their dreams of a sixth Liga MX title will be dashed in the quarterfinals against their hated rivals.
Liga MX Play-In Tourney kicks off
The Clausura 2024 postseason begins tonight with two Play-In matches.
The ball starts rolling at Estadio Victoria in Aguascalientes with 9th-seeded Necaxa hosting No. 10 seeds Querétaro
The two sides played to a 1-1 draw on Feb. 16 in Querétaro in a Matchday 7 contest, with the visiting Rayos getting the equalizer in minute 90+3. The last time the Gallos Blancos played at Necaxa – last August – they defeated "los electricistas" 1-0.
This will be the first game for Necaxa since news broke that Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – of Wrexham fame – have purchased a share of the Liga MX club.
The second Play-In match of the night sees 8th-seeded UNAM paying a visit to No. 7 Pachuca.
The key to this clash is how quickly the host Tuzos can recover from Tuesday night's winning performance against América in a Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals. Pachuca won 2-1 to eliminate the heavily favored Aguilas.
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The winner of the Pachuca-UNAM contest advances to the Liguilla as the No. 7 seed while the loser will host an elimination match against the winner of the Necaxa-Querétaro contest. The winner of Sunday's elimination match will advance to the quarterfinals as the No. 8 seed.