Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Columbus enters rarefied air with CONCACAF Champions Cup final

By Alyssa Clang | Last updated May 30, 2024 4:06 PM ET

Liga MX's Pachuca CF won't be the Columbus Crew's only opponent in Saturday's CONCACAF Champions Cup in Mexico. The Major League Soccer team will battle the heat of a Mexican summer at 8,000 feet of elevation.

"We're going to prepare well," Columbus coach Wilfried Nancy insisted in advance of the final, per Fox Sports' Doug McIntyre. "If we control the game, I don't have to change my players."

Pachuca CF earned a home-field advantage by outperforming the Crew in the early stages of the competition. That means it will have the full support of its local supporters at Estadio Hidalgo, but it will also have a clear physical advantage: Pachuca's players are used to playing at altitude with low oxygen levels, while Columbus' players are not.

To combat that, Columbus' training staff has spent weeks preparing its players for its journey to the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains in Mexico. The team has slept in altitude tents in Ohio to mimic the effects of elevation and trained in low-oxygen environments.

The CONCACAF Champions Cup Final will be played in Pachuca which is 8000 feet above sea level (Columbus is 800), quite the home field advantage.

The Crew are already preparing their bodies, they are sleeping in altitude tents and working out in altitude masks. #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/kxuKV2vOvU
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) May 29, 2024

Columbus hopes its preparation will nullify Pachuca's clear advantage.

"Obviously, the team has done well against Mexican teams. It gives us a lot of confidence," Columbus captain Darlington Nagbe said. "But the final is different, whether you're home or away."

Columbus traveled to Pachuca on Thursday in advance of the final. If it wins, it will become the fourth American team to win the continental title. That would put Columbus in rarefied air — for reasons beyond elevation.

This is only the 10th appearance for an American club in the CONCACAF final since the competition began in 1962.

The final starts Saturday at 9:15 p.m. ET at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca, Mexico.

Alyssa Clang

Alyssa is a Boston-born Californian with a passion for global sport. She can yell about misplaced soccer passes in five languages and rattle off the turns of Silverstone in her sleep. You can find her dormant Twitter account at @alyssaclang, but honestly, you’re probably better off finding her here

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