Friday night’s Leagues Cup 2023 action saw an upturn in fortunes for the LIGA MX sides, who up until that point had only seen one team - Club Querétaro - go through to the next round. The final batch of Round of 32 fixtures, though, would see four Mexican sides join them, including two that will face off for a spot in the quarter-finals.
The match-up will pit none other than crosstown rivals Club Tigres and CF Monterrey against each other, in what will be the latest edition of the Clásico Regiomontano - one of Mexico’s most storied derbies.
While the Rayados continued their perfect record at Leagues Cup 2023 with a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers, it was a less straightforward affair for their derby rivals. Having gone behind to the Vancouver Whitecaps, Tigres needed a sensational overhead kick goal from their all-time top scorer André-Pierre Gignac to draw level, before coming out on top in the penalty shoot-out.
The two Monterrey-based teams will be facing off for the 131st time in the derby’s history, with their first meeting taking place back in 1974. Tigres have the marginally better head-to-head record overall with 47 wins to Rayados’ 44. It will be the second time that the match-up is played in an international tournament, after the 2019 CONCACAF Champions League final - which was won by CF Monterrey on aggregate by a 2-1 scoreline.
On top of the usual cross-city bragging rights, whoever comes out on top in this hotly-contested clash will go on to face either Los Angeles FC or Real Salt Lake for a place in the final four of this summer’s Leagues Cup. Tigres will be hoping to see André-Pierre Gignac add to his club record of 10 goals against their arch-rivals, while Monterrey will be looking to the in-form Argentine forward Germán Berterame to lead the line.
