Club America send Chivas Packing in the CONCACAF Champions Cup | OneFootball

Six teams represented the Liga MX in the second round of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Club América was drawn against arch-rivals Chivas as the headliner for the round, while Cruz Azul and Tigres went head-to-head with American sides Seattle Sounders and Cincinnati FC. Monterrey was also up against MLS opposition, but Matín Demichelis' side headed to Canada for the second-leg battle to play the Vancouver Whitecaps.

In the final tie involving a Mexican side at this stage of the competition, Pumas met Costa Rican side 2004 winners of the competition Alajuelense.

The two sides played out a bore draw in the first leg, meaning all was to play for in the reverse meeting when the sides met at the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes, Mexico City.

It was in the second leg where La Máquina took control of this tie. Charly Rodríguez ended his streak without a goal to break the deadlock before Angel Sepúlveda doubled their lead. Danny Musovski pulled one back for the 2022 Champions Cup winners, but their hopes of a quarterfinal berth were crushed when Luka Romero and Jorge Sánchez added their names to the scoresheet.

Tigres and Cincinnati couldn't be split in the first leg as two early goals told the story of the game.

Returning to Mexico for the decisive meeting, Guido Pizarro's side showed their class despite going behind to an early goal from Evander Ferreira. Jonathan Herrera brought the side back into the game before Juan Brunetta turned from provider to scorer for the second. In the space of eight minutes, Tigres had gone from behind to three goals to the good when Nicolás Ibáñez added to his goal in the first leg, meaning they would be joining Cruz Azul in the next round.

The biggest shock of the round came at the Estadio BBVA as the 'away goal rule' sent Vancouver to the quarterfinal rather than one of the pre-tournament favourites Monterrey.

In Canada, the sides settled for a 1-1 draw as Belal Halbouni scored a late equaliser. Sergio Canales' early goal in the second leg was met by two goals either side of the halftime whistle, as the Whitecaps were able to hold on despite a last-minute penalty from Sergio Ramos, who scored his third goal in as many games for Los Rayados.

Club América (4-1) Chivas

Las Águilas were left stumped having faced Chivas twice in the last seven days, failing to score a single goal. The initial meeting handed the Guadalajara side a 1-0 lead before the sides fought for a goalless draw in the Clausura at the weekend.

This time around, André Jardine's side showed their class with four of the very best. Brian Rodríguez got proceedings underway in the fifth minute before Diego Valdéz gave the seven-time champions the lead for the first time in the tie on halftime.

Alan Mozo was sent off at the start of the second half to make matters even worse for Chivas, going a goal and a man down with 45 minutes still to play. América got a third goal on the hour mark when Alex Zendejas responded to the decision to not call him up for the United States national team before Álvaro Fidalgo put the icing on top of the cake with a fourth.

The only side to not face a MLS or Liga MX side in the second round, Efraín Júarez's side put an end to Costa Rican hopes with a professional display over two legs against Alajuelense.

Two goals in the Mexican capital gave Los Universitarios a comfortable lead heading to the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto for the second leg.

An early goal from Diego Campos put on the pressure for Pumas, who knew that a second for the home side would send the tie to extra time, and possibly penalties. With the Costa Rican side applying the pressure, Pumas found an equaliser on the night to restore their two-goal lead as Leonardo Suárez gave the Mexicans breathing space in the time with 15 minutes left on the clock