Pachuca have lifted their sixth ever Concacaf Champions Cup title defeating the Columbus Crew 3-0 and maintaining their undefeated record in finals. Behind goals from Salomon Rondon, Miguel Rodriguez and Pachuca were able to get past the Crew after going ahead in the first half of play. Salomon Rondon kept his hot scoring going scoring Pachuca’s first goal of the match and helped his team draw level with Cruz Azul for the most Champions Cup titles behind Club America.
The Crew came into the match in good form and with confidence after winning MLS Cup last season but playing the match at altitude, they weren’t able to keep up with Pachuca to avoid defeat in the biggest game in club history. Cucho Hernandez’s return to the XI wasn’t enough to spark an attacking run but Pachuca winning the midfield battle is what lost the match for Columbus.
At the half, Pachuca’s lead proved to be too much to deal with despite Wilfried Nancy’s attempts to switch things up, which didn’t change the tide enough in the second half. Rondon got a second goal in the match to put things out of reach which the Crew followed up with changes that didn’t manage to make enough of an impact.
This books a place in the Club World Cup for Pachuca while the Crew will still have multiple chances for silverware between the Leagues Cup and MLS Cup this season. They’ll need to bounce back from this loss quickly but under Nancy that hasn’t been an issue as they’ve shown a strong mentality. On this night, the mix of altitude and Pachuca’s preparedness was too much to handle.
KVSP