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The Pitch (Leagues Cup): Top Things to Watch in Leagues Cup this Week

August 1, 2023 - Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release


Following Monday night's action, 30 teams have advanced out of the Group Stage to meet Los Angeles Football Club and C.F. Pachuca in the Knockout Rounds of Leagues Cup 2023. This week, the Round of 32 will see last season's champions of MLS and LIGA MX join the fray.

LAFC enters the bracket in the West Region, while Pachuca begins their Leagues Cup 2023 journey in the South Region.

The Knockout Rounds are comprised of single-elimination matches. It's win or go home from here on out in Leagues Cup action.

The Round of 32 begins Wednesday, August 2 and runs through Saturday, August 5.

Twenty MLS clubs advanced to the Round of 32 and will continue their push to capture the Leagues Cup title. The Round of 32 will feature 10 MLS vs. LIGA MX matchups, five MLS vs. MLS matchups, and one matchup featuring two LIGA MX squads.

Following the Round of 32, the Round of 16 kicks off on Sunday, Aug. 6. CLICK HERE for more information about the Round of 16 match venues.

Additional competition guidelines, including hosting scenarios and match tiebreakers, can be found in the official Leagues Cup Tournament Regulations 2023.

Standouts of the Group Stage

After 45 matches of exciting Group Stage action, standout clubs and players have emerged as the race for the Leagues Cup 2023 title enters the Knockout Rounds. Below is a look at the notable performances and stars of the first two weeks of Leagues Cup play.

Offensive fireworks have been the name of the game in Leagues Cup, as there have been 152 goals scored across the 45 matches (3.38 per game).

Nearly half of the games (Twenty-two of the 45 matches) have seen four or more goals scored in regulation time.

The Philadelphia Union, who are tied for fifth in the MLS league standings with 39 goals this season, tied Toluca of LIGA MX for the Leagues Cup lead with eight goals in Group Stage play, including four by midfielder Dániel Gazdag.

There have been four individual hat tricks in Leagues Cup play: Gazdag (July 26 vs. Queretaro), New England's Giacomo Vrioni (July 26 vs. Atletico San Luis), FC Cincinnati's Brandon Vázquez (July 28 vs. Chivas), and Monterrey's Germán Berterame (July 30 vs. Seattle Sounders).

Berterame of Monterrey leads all Leagues Cup 2023 scorers with five goals, including a hat trick against the Seattle Sounders (July 30) and a pair of goals against Real Salt Lake (July 26).

Camilo Vargas of Atlas is the only goalkeeper to have recorded multiple clean sheets in Leagues Cup 2023.

Knockout Round Top MLS vs. LIGA MX Matchups

The Round of 32 features several highly anticipated MLS- LIGA MX matchups, many of which will face off for the first time in their respective club histories.

The New England Revolution will host Atlas FC this Thursday in the second-ever meeting between the two clubs. The Revolution recorded a 1-0 victory in their previous meeting with Atlas FC during the 2009 SuperLiga. Forward Giacomo Vrioni has led the attack for the Revolution, including a hat trick during their 5-1 win against Atlético de San Luis. Atlas finished atop East 3 after winning both games in the group stage.

Club León, the reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winner, will face a Real Salt Lake team that went 1-1-0 during the group stage games. Real Salt Lake totaled a combined 27 shots in its two games, including 13 shots on goal. LIGA MX's León scored a combined three goals in its first two Leagues Cup games.

The Portland Timbers will host C.F. Monterrey for the first time in club history. Monterrey, winners of West 2, is currently second in the Apertura 2023 standings. Striker German Berterame has scored a competition-high five goals in two Leagues Cup games, including a brace and hat-trick in back-to-back contests.

FC Dallas will host Mazatlán FC in the first meeting between the two clubs on Wednesday, August 2. Dallas has faced Mexican teams in seven contests, winning three times. Sebastian Lletget registered two Leagues Cup goals for FC Dallas, while goalkeeper Maarten Paes posted a clean sheet in it's the club's 3-0 victory against Necaxa. With a 3-1 victory against Austin FC and another win on penalty kicks against rival FC Juárez, Mazatlán FC scored often and in timely moments to finish at the top of their group.

Héctor Herrera Faces Boyhood Club C.F. Pachuca for First Time

A storybook moment has come to fruition in the South region in the Round of 32 of Leagues Cup 2023. For the first time in his career, Mexican legend and Houston Dynamo FC midfielder Héctor Herrera will face his boyhood club, C.F. Pachuca.

Herrera has appeared in 421 career club games and played against 128 different opponents around the world, but never versus Pachuca - the club he broke onto the global soccer scene with. The 2023 MLS All-Star made his debut for Los Tuzos in 2010 before becoming a regular for the team in 2011 as just a 21-year-old. Herrera went on to make 55 appearances for the club prior to moving to 30-time Portuguese champions Porto in 2013.

Pachuca earned a bye in the Group Stage as the LIGA MX champion with the most combined points accumulated across the Clausura and Apertura seasons in the 2022 calendar year and now face Houston, who finished second in South 2. Herrera has been the driving force for a resurgent Dynamo team this year and will need to channel that form to take down his boyhood club at Shell Energy Stadium on August 2.

The Champions Arrive in Leagues Cup Round of 32

With the start of the Leagues Cup 2023 Knockout Rounds comes the tournament debuts of the Los Angeles Football Club and C.F. Pachuca, the reigning MLS and LIGA MX champions, respectively.

If LAFC defeat FC Juárez and Club León can overcome Real Salt Lake on Wednesday, August 2 in the Round of 32, the two will collide in the Round of 16 as a rematch of this year's Concacaf Champions League Finals.

One breakout star has defined LAFC's 2023 season so far: forward Dénis Bouanga. In is his first full season for the club, Bouanga has scored 12 goals through 23 games played in regular season action and earned the CCL golden boot with seven goals, three more than the next highest goal scorer in the tournament. He and teammate Carlos Vela have combined for 20 of LAFC's 34 regular season goals, and a deep run will be dependent on the Gabonese forward hitting his stride early against Juárez.

Pachuca, meanwhile, will take on the South Region and drew Houston Dynamo FC as their Round of 32 opponent after the Dynamo finished second in the South 2 group.

The club are led by forward Lucas Di Yorio in attack, and the Argentine forward is raring to prove his goal-scoring talents for Pachuca having been on loan the previous two seasons. Additionally, the club has introduced a handful of young talents to start the Apertura 2023 season, including 17-year-old midfielder Elias Montiel. The teenager has started two of the club's first three league games prior to Leagues Cup, and the knockout round will mark his first taste of intracontinental action with the first team.

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