PRE-SHOW: Pumas UNAM 🇲🇽 vs. Cavalry FC 🇨🇦 | Concacaf Champions Cup (Leg 2) 🏆

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Concacaf

Cavalry FC of Calgary, Alberta takes on Pumas UNAM from Mexico City in Leg 2 of this opening round series in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup, up 2-1 on aggregate after Leg 1. Here's our pre-show coverage.

2025 Concacaf Champions Cup — Round One
Pumas UNAM vs. Cavalry FC
Feb. 13, 2025 at 7 p.m. CT/6 p.m. MT
Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City
Watch Live: OneSoccer

The Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City is a cathedral of firsts.

It was where Diego Maradona played the first game of his legendary 1986 World Cup with Argentina. It’s where Hugo Sánchez, arguably the greatest ever North American player, began his professional career.

And on Thursday night, it’s the ground where Cavalry FC could become the first Canadian Premier League team to advance in the Concacaf Champions Cup.

The Calgary-based side have a stiff challenge in front of them, in the form of Liga MX giants Universidad Nacional — better known as Pumas. However, spirits are high in the Canadian team’s camp as they enter this second leg of the first-round tie with a one-goal aggregate lead.

Cavalry sent shockwaves through North American football last Thursday, when they beat Pumas 2-1 at Starlight Stadium in Langford, British Columbia. Goals from Charlie Trafford and Tobias Warschewski lifted them to a comeback victory, and the first ever win over 90 minutes for a CPL side in this competition.

Now, they have arrived in Mexico City with an eye on an even more monumental feat: finishing the job, and eliminating Pumas.

Much easier said than done, of course. With a slim aggregate lead, Cavalry would advance to the round of 16 with any kind of win or draw on Thursday. However, the goal Pumas scored in Langford — courtesy of Canadian international Santiago López — makes things tricky, because a 1-0 win for the Mexican side would be enough to win on away goals.

If the match finishes exactly 2-1 for Pumas, then we would proceed to extra time and penalties if necessary. Any other one-goal Pumas win — that is, 3-2 or higher — would mean Cavalry go through as well.

After heavily rotating their first team for the opening leg in Canada, Pumas are expected to play a stronger side at home in this return fixture. They played a league match over the weekend at home against Mazatlán using 10 different starters to the match against Cavalry. In that game, a sluggish 90 minutes seemed destined for a 0-0 draw until substitute Piero Quispe finally scored in the 11th minute of stoppage time.

The win vaulted Pumas into fifth place in the Liga MX Clausura table, but there’s still some dissatisfaction among the fanbase in the way they’ve been playing under head coach Gustavo Lema, particularly after the loss to Cavalry.

So, Pumas will undoubtedly be desperate to turn this tie around on Thursday; expect the likes of Guillermo Martínez and Ignacio Pussetto to play a larger role in the attack, and perhaps a contribution in midfield from Panamanian star Adalberto Carrasquilla, none of whom were in the squad for leg one. Lema admitted on Sunday that his team is suffering without star attacker César Huerta, who left for Anderlecht in January, so they will be looking for ways to spark their offence.

The Mexican side does have a couple of injury concerns; stalwart Brazilian centre-back Nathan Silva left just before halftime against Mazatlán, and Rodrigo López had to be withdrawn shortly before fulltime with what Lema described as fatigue from the trip to Canada. Lema confirmed on Wednesday that Silva will be unavailable, also revealing that goalkeeper Alex Padilla, who came under fire for his performance in his club debut last Thursday, will start again for this game.

Much is on the line for both teams on Thursday. Pumas are hoping to avoid what would be a crushing defeat, while Cavalry look to achieve something incredibly special, and do what no Canadian Premier League side has ever done before.

The winner of this tie will head to the last 16 to play Costa Rican side Alajuelense, who received a bye to the next round by winning the 2024 Concacaf Central American Cup.

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3 THINGS TO WATCH

Cavalry to come out swinging: Going into the away leg of a tie with a one-goal advantage, Cavalry will have some tough decisions to make in how they choose to approach this game. They could, if they prefer, enact a conservative game plan, sitting in a low block to avoid conceding and protect their slim lead. That strategy carries an abundance of risk, though; if Pumas score first, they’ll be in the driver’s seat and if Cavalry are too defensive-minded it’ll be difficult to go score. What’s more likely, especially given what we know about Tommy Wheeldon Jr. and how he likes to play, is that the Cavs will be looking for goals. An early tally would mean Pumas need to score three to advance without extra time, and would force them to break their defensive shape and go all-out in their attack. “We’ve got to approach the opponent in front of us. It’s an honour to be in such a famous stadium and playing against the three-time champion of this tournament. We know that it’s going to be a tough game, and we have the utmost respect for what we’ve got to do while out there on the pitch tomorrow.”

Pumas under serious pressure: At Pumas’ last home game on Sunday, fans at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario voiced their discontent with the manager Gustavo Lema on several occasions. A chorus of boos could be heard when his name was announced prior to the game, as could chants of “Fuera Lema” (“Lema Out”) over the course of a relatively uninspiring performance. Though the late winner provided some solace, this Pumas side is facing significant pressure, even though they sit fifth in the table — a fact Lema himself pointed out in his postmatch comments on Sunday. Lema caused a stir, shouldering the criticism by suggesting fans always need a villain, and that even Hugo Sánchez had been insulted in his time as Pumas manager. However, Sánchez himself retorted this week that fans do have a right to be upset when the team is not performing. What’s clear is that the Mexican side will not be able to take Thursday’s match for granted, with so many question marks surrounding the club.

Any adjustments for Cavalry? The Cavs’ starting XI last Thursday raised some eyebrows, with two surprising omissions from the group that played last November’s CPL Final (not including the departed Daan Klomp). Right-back Fraser Aird gave way to Nicolas Wähling, and Charlie Trafford replaced Diego Gutiérrez in midfield. Though his hand was partly forced by knocks suffered in training, Tommy Wheeldon Jr. was rewarded for both choices. Wähling, playing a position not many knew he was capable of, provided an excellent attacking spark down the right, while Trafford was outstanding in midfield and also scored Cavalry’s first goal. Depending on how training goes this week, Wheeldon Jr. will have a difficult decision to make; it’s hard to imagine Gutiérrez and Aird not starting if fully fit, but why change what worked so well last week?

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Pumas UNAM: Padilla; Bennevendo, Silva, Magallán, Duarte, Ergas; Quispe, Trigos, Caicedo; S. López, Pussetto

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Kobza, Montgomery, Kamdem; Shome, Trafford; Musse, Camargo, Herdman; Warschewski

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP HISTORY

Cavalry FC all-time record: 1-0-2
Best finish: Round one (2024)

Pumas UNAM all-time record: 28-16-14
Best finish: Champions (1980, 1982, 1989)

KEY QUOTES

“We expect a very difficult game, coming into what we would call the lion’s den, but this is the home of the Pumas. We know that this is their territory. We have to respect that, we have to respect the conditions and our opponent. We know we can’t as we would say, copy and paste the game plan that won last time. We have to find a new way to compete.” — Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr.

“We’re coming here; we had the advantage in the snow and the cold in Canada, and now we come here and it’s hot, the altitude, the fans, so we know it’s going to be a war. We know it’s going to be a very tough game, but that’s what you want as a player.” — Cavalry FC midfielder Charlie Trafford

The 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup begins Tuesday. Feb. 4. Canadian Premier League clubs Forge FC and Cavalry FC will be taking on Mexican sides CF Monterrey and Pumas UNAM, respectively, with their matchups beginning Feb. 5 and 6.