February 12 – The Concacaf Champions Cup defending champions Cruz Azul made short work of tournament debutants, Vancouver FC, in British Columbia.
Despite an almost 6,000-mile round trip, La Máquina, scored twice in the first half through Gabriel Fernandez, who was the man-of-the-match, and Amaury Morales.
Agustín Palavecino provided the insurance in the 65th minute, and despite a short spell of pressure by the Canadians, Emmanuel Ochoa kept the clean sheet to give Los Cementeros a comfortable 3-0 win as they head back to Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla.
Their usual home Estadio Azteca, is currently undergoing renovations ahead of the World Cup.
Despite dropping points at the weekend in Liga MX, Cruz Azul remains in 3rd place, and their internationally flavoured squad will have no fears, as the club historically has had no problem with Canadian opposition.
Unbeaten in nine matches with seven wins and two ties, it seems too huge a mountain for Vancouver to climb and overturn three goals on the road.
Pride will be more at stake for Martin Nash as he leads his team in their first-ever away match in the tournament. For a club that is just in its fourth year of existence, the experience of playing this kind of calibre opponent will be of more importance than the result.
Before the first leg Nash pointed out they were playing one of the best teams in the world and that they “had nothing to lose”. But they do have a lot of credibility to win if they can stop bleeding goals and prove themselves difficult opponents.
February 12th – 2nd Leg: Cruz Azul (3) vs Vancouver FC (0)