Toluca lift Concacaf Champions Cup | OneFootball

Toluca and Tigres met again for another enthralling final, but this time to decide who will be crowned champions of North and Central America.

The pair last December in the final of the Liga MX Apertura, which was eventually won by Los Rojos Diablos, decided via a penalty shootout, with the teams left evenly balanced after two full 90 minutes of action.

This time around, Tigres were in search of revenge. Despite being against the odds, travelling back to the ground where they suffered heartache only six months earlier, Guido Pizarro’s men were looking to make things right.

Concacaf Champions Cup: Buildup

Both sides came into the curtain closer with a three-week gap since their last outing, following Liga MX Clausura playoff exits to Chivas and Pachuca.

In the case of Toluca, they reached the final in dramatic fashion after losing the first leg of their semi-final with LAFC. They responded with an emphatic 4-0 victory at the Estadio Nemesio Diez to book their place in the final.

Tigres’ final four display provided less drama, with the side from Nuevo León managing to carve out a 1-0 win in both legs, but the real test for them came in the round of 16, against Cincinnati FC. After falling to a 3-0 defeat in Ohio, they forced their way through with a 5-1 victory at the Estadio Universitario as Fernando Gorriarán netted a late winner.

Concacaf Champions Cup: Lineups

Antonio Mohamed named an unsurprising starting XI, with the key absences being Alexis Vega and Jesús Gallardo, who are both with the Mexican national team preparing for the World Cup.

Tigres’ lineup offered some interesting decisions from Pizarro, who opted against Juan Brunetta, who had scored four in his last five games for the team.

The final was also set to be an emotional farewell for legendary striker André Pierre-Gignac, who, after 10 years with Tigres, was set to wave goodbye at the age of 39.

Concacaf Champions Cup: Final

As is often the case in major finals, the game lacked any real quality in front of goal with the teams still searching for a breakthrough beyond the 90-minute mark.

It took until the 105th minute for the game’s first goal as second-half substitute Jorge Díaz slotted his effort from the edge of the box beyond the outstretched Nahuel Guzmán.

Toluca’s opener late in the game ignited an immediate response from the visitors as a deep free kick from Brunetta found the head of Brazilian centre-half Joaquim to force the final to penalties.

Toluca vs Tigres: Penalties… Again

When the sides met in last winter’s Apertura final, Toluca eventually came out on top after 17 spot kicks.

This time around, Gorriarán and Franco Romero missed for either side, once again meaning that the final will be decided by sudden death.

Toluca won the toss before the shootout, meaning that they took first and forced pressure onto Tigres for every penalty, which was eventually too much as Juan Purata was denied by Luis Garcia to hand Los Rojos Diablos a second finals win over Los Fellinos in the space of six months.

Toluca are champions

Toluca were crowned champions of Concacaf for the third time, handing them their first Champions Cup title since 2003.

The win marks an incredibly special era for Los Rojos Diablos, who add to their two Liga MX titles in the last 18 months under Mohamed, who has consistently said that the Concacaf Champions Cup is the only title that has evaded him.

Managing to win the final without two of their biggest stars, Toluca’s penalty shootout victory means that they will participate in the Intercontinental Cup this winter, with the potential of facing newly crowned UEFA Champions Cup winners PSG.

At the same time, they will join last season’s Concacaf Champions Cup winners, Cruz Azul, at the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.