Caleb Porter applauds 'best team' Club America after NE Revs exit Champions Cup | OneFootball

New England Revolution boss Caleb Porter praised Liga MX giants Club America after his side's exit in the Concacaf Champions Cup to the Eagles.

The Revolution were thoroughly outmatched against America in the Champions Cup quarterfinals, losing 9-2 on aggregate. The tie was all but wrapped up after the first leg when America thrashed New England 4-0 at Gillette Stadium, leaving little hope for the MLS outfit in the second leg at Estadio Azteca.

New England found themselves down 3-0 at halftime Tuesday night before the hosts grabbed two more. Porter's team managed to find the back of the net twice in the second 45, but it was too little too late for the Eastern Conference team.

After the defeat, Porter admitted his Revs bowed out of the CCC against the best side in the tournament.

"For me, they're the best team in the tournament. It's why they won their league last year," Porter said after the game. "I've faced other Liga MX teams in this tournament, in Portland, in Columbus, and they're the best team that I've ever faced. So, hats off to them, very good team."

Although Porter knew there was little to no possibility of the Revs advancing to the semifinals, he still would've liked to see a little more fight from his team in the first half. America dominated the first 45 with 70% possession, 12 total shots (five on target) to just one shot on goal for the Revs.

"I thought first half, we weren't good. We rotated our group completely from our last league game, all 11 players, but I expected more, and I don't care that we played, per se, a lot of our reserves, but at a minimum, I expect no matter who we play, more fight, and I was very disappointed in that first half because I didn't think at a minimum that we made it difficult enough on Club America. It was too easy for them, and I thought second half was much better.

"It was 2-2 in the second half, it was 3-0 in the first half. Obviously, we inserted several of our top players which certainly helped, but we can build on that for sure. We're disappointed to be out of the tournament. We knew this game, to advance, was going to be a long shot. I'm proud of that second half. Think we can keep our heads high with that, the ending, but we have to understand that first half, that can't happen again."

Porter then went on to relay the same message many MLS coaches have before in a similar scenario: Liga MX clubs don't have the same roster rules and financial restrictions MLS sides have.

"Their (Liga MX's) budgets are a lot bigger, so we could start with that. I think their budget's probably twice as much as ours," he said. "So, they have no rules like we have in terms of cap and designated players. I think I said it after the first game, they probably have 11 or more designated players. That shows, talent-wise, that with their budget, that they're just much deeper, much deeper as a team. So, I think our top end guys can compete, but when we start to go to our number two guys, that's where it becomes very difficult."

While it's easy to point the blame on roster rules and regulations, fellow MLS outfit Columbus Crew managed to get past one of the best teams in North America in Tigres to reach the competition's semifinals -- while facing the same challenges as the Revs.

New England return to league action this Saturday to take on NYCFC at Yankee Stadium, looking to add their second win of the MLS season and lift themselves off the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.