As the team with the most points across the LIGA MX Apertura 2022 and Clausura 2023 campaigns, Club Pachuca have received a bye to the knockout stages of this summer’s Leagues Cup. In the Round of 32, they will face the runners-up of the South 2 pool, Houston Dynamo FC.
Despite last year’s impressive campaign, Club Pachuca are currently winless in the new season, and will be looking to find an upturn in form at Leagues Cup. Despite being over a century old, the team’s success only began at the turn of the millennium, having been crowned Mexican champions seven times in the last 25 years. Now, fans will be hoping that the Guillermo Almada-led side can step up and clinch success on the continental stage.
Although last year’s top scorer Nicolás Ibáñez moved on to Club Tigres in the off-season, the team still has a host of talent at its disposal. Their roster includes both seasoned players and younger prospects who are keen to make an impact at Leagues Cup. One of the veterans who Pachuca will be counting on to deliver is attacking midfielder Javier Eduardo López, while a talent who’s been making waves of late is Erick Sánchez.
Javier Eduardo López - a creator with experience at the top
The 28-year-old Mexican, also known as "La Chofís" is no stranger to winning trophies. In his eight seasons with formative club Guadalajara, he won the LIGA MX and Copa MX double during the Clausura 2017 campaign, having also lifted the CONCACAF Champions League the year before that.
He joined Pachuca in 2022 off the back of a loan spell at the San Jose Earthquakes, where he had found the net 12 times during the 2021 MLS season. Last year, he scored nine goals and registered three assists in all competitions, and he'll be looking to open his account for the new campaign at Leagues Cup.
Érick Sánchez - a homegrown rising midfield star
The 23-year-old midfielder is already a regular in the senior Mexican national team call-ups. Sánchez was one of the homegrown players that starred in the 2022 Apertura win, and scored four goals in all competitions last season. Should he continue his progression, it’s only a matter of time before he becomes the latest Tuzos player to earn a move to Europe, after the likes of Héctor Herrera and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano.
