The 2024 Leagues Cup makes its first appearance on Canadian soil as CF Montréal hosts Atlético de San Luis in a group East 2 matchup at Stade Saputo. The home side will look to hold off elimination after opening group play with a 4-1 loss to Orlando City last Friday.
The LIGA MX visitors, on the other hand, will be in search of redemption as they were one of the four Mexican sides who did not earn a single point in the 2023 edition of the tournament.
Montréal was another club that was eliminated in last year’s group stage, and they did no favors for their own redemption tour by giving up trois buts in the first half of their 2024 Leagues Cup debut in Orlando.
They were susceptible to the Orlando counter, an area head coach Laurent Courtois hopes to shore up before meeting San Luis.
“How do we put ourselves in that situation?” Courtois said. “We need to limit the turnovers when we are too spread out — this is a big work in progress for our team.”
The lone bright spot for Montréal was Josef Martinez’ goal in the 69th minute.
But he later missed a penalty that could come back to haunt Montréal on a goal difference.
Atlético de San Luis have had a sluggish start to the 2024 Apertura campaign, collecting five points in 4 matches for 10th place in the LIGA MX table. Their lone win, however, was a big one: a 2-1 besting of the two-time defending champs, Club América, to open the season.
Since then, though, they have only managed to muster a couple of draws, including their last outing versus Tijuana which ended 1-1.
Spanish coach Domènec Torrent has strayed from a traditional four-in-the-back formation, fielding a 3-4-3 for three of the four matches so far in the Apertura. Long time LIGA MX veteran Julio “Cata” Dominguez — who recently played in his 600th Liga MX match — anchors the back line of three defenders.
The attacking crew reflects a growing trend among LIGA MX teams: opting for the European player. The string puller in the midfield, Sébastien Salles-Lamonge, is French and the tip of the spear, Mateo Klimowicz, played for Germany’s U21 squad. Klimowicz had a brace in Los Tuneros’ win over Club América.
Keep on eye on
Montréal’s set piece defense. Montréal has given up 12 set piece goals, tied for the most in MLS.
Let’er rip. San Luis have averaged over 10 shots per match so far in the LIGA MX Apertura.
Players to watch
Ariel Lassiter. The Costa Rican international leads the squad in assists and served up Montréal’s lone goal in Orlando.
Franck Boli. The former Portland Timbers forward has scored six goals in 15 appearances with San Luis since joining the squad in the 2024 Clausura, including two goals this season.
