LAFC to host Tigres in Campeones Cup on Sept. 27

With their win over Pachuca on Sunday night, Tigres won Liga MX's Campeón de Campeones honors and earned the right to face off against reigning MLS Cup champions LAFC in the fifth edition of the Campeones Cup — a single-game final between the two league winners. The MLS side will host the one-off final at BMO Stadium on Wedensday, Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. CT. While it's LAFC's first-ever trip to the Campeones Cup, Tigres will become the first two-time participants after lifting the inaugural Campeones Cup, beating Toronto FC 3-1 back in 2018. 

MLS vs. Liga MX

Though still relatively new, Campeones Cup has been dominated by MLS sides, who all won the last three editions. Atlanta United was the first in 2019, followed by Columbus Crew and New York City FC. It should be noted, though, MLS teams have had home-field advantage in every Campeones Cup.

In the more-storied Concacaf Champions League (recently renamed the Concacaf Champions Cup), where ties are played over home-and-away legs, there has been a stark contrast in performance. In CCL, Liga MX teams have won fourteen out of fifteen times. Only three MLS teams have ever reached the CCL final — Real Salt Lake, Seattle Sounders FC (the only MLS winners of the competition), and LAFC, who are the only MLS team to have reached the CCL final twice. 

Their first attempt — in 2020 — was a 2-1 loss to Tigres in a single 90-minute final played in a nearly-empty stadium in Orlando due to pandemic concerns. LAFC will certainly want revenge with the chance to face Tigres for a title

With the addition of the Leagues Cup this summer, a third competition involving both MLS and Liga MX teams, the rivalry between the two dominant North American leagues should intensify. Leagues Cup, together with Campeones Cup, is part of a larger partnership between MLS and Liga MX that began in 2018, intending to grow the leagues as well as the rivalry existing between them. 

LAFC has been a recent presence in competitions involving a Liga MX finalist; the club might feel a need for revenge by proxy, considering it just lost the CCL final as MLS's representative against Liga MX's León last month. Leagues Cup will come first, from July 21 through August 19, and LAFC will be one of the favorites, in part because of their group stage bye and advancement directly to the knockout stages. 

Bulletin board material

One thing is for sure — both teams will also have bulletin board material for the match. Heading into the CCL final vs León, LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman referred to Liga MX teams as "not very tactical," indicating that they played more emotionally. León obviously responded by dominating LAFC 3-1 over two legs, but Tigres won't forget Tillman's comments either.