Tigres won their first international title by defeating LAFC in the CONCACAF Champions League final, leaving five lessons learned from their 2-1 victory over the MLS team.
Gignac, the best stranger
Tigres’ figure was undoubtedly their star top scorer André-Pierre Gignac, who scored six goals in the tournament but made it the most important, the victory in the Final against LAFC in the 84th minute, to give the cats the step to the World Cup. clubs.
There is no doubt that Gignac is the best foreigner in Mexican football today, due to his stability as a finisher, because he knows how to appear in the big games.
However, the debate has widened to define whether Gignac is the best foreigner in the history of Mexican football, which is much more complicated and complex, as his comparison with the legends Cabinho, Marín, Reinoso or Cardozo is risky.
Tuca, the best technician
Ricardo Ferretti has as many detractors as fans. His style of play does not convince a significant majority, as he is constantly asked about the lack of spectacular football, which the Brazilian coach always sacrifices in search of the result.
But the headlines will continue to support Tuca, the only coach who has not been fired since he started on the bench, three full decades of hard work, efficient, rocky, not very pleasant for the stands, but which in the trace has obtained enough trophies to be considered the best coach in Mexican football. The Club World Cup will be an impossible challenge, but for Tuca it will be a good way to test his ability as a strategist.
Tigers, great team
It’s usually another endless debate on social media and football rallies. The Tigers are not a great team like America, Chivas, Cruz Azul or Pumas, for many reasons, but they have won five titles, just like all those considered “big” in the last decade.
Tigres suffers because it is a team that sweeps Monterrey, but its national projection is zero, because it does not have the national fan base of the other four clubs.
But in terms of success, the winning trophies, to which he has now added his first international title, Tigres is the best team in the last 10 years, and much of it is due to the high investment of his board, which had a good eyes for Gignac’s signature, doing his best to make him feel comfortable and enjoy his undeniable talent. Big or not, Tigres will travel to Qatar to face the best clubs on each continent, as the four “Bigs” wanted.
The Mexicans dominate Concacaf
Another endless debate is the distance between the MX League and MLS. In direct duels there is no doubt that the dominance of Mexican clubs in the only tournament in which it is possible to measure them face to face.
But more and more are being considered the social, financial and sporting structure, the influence of marketing, the great signatures of football in the United States, which invest a lot to gain little international recognition.
Instead, the Mexican clubs completed an honorable trip when they participated in the Copa Libertadores or Sudamericana and left an indelible mark insofar as their return to those competitions is desired throughout the continent.
There is little material to discuss whether MLS will reach, or will not reach, the MX League, but the history of Mexican football cannot be missed, much greater than the 25 years of a fast-growing league, but still far from The giant CONCACAF.
Navigation, unsuccessful in clubs
Carlos Vela was the top figure in MLS for the 2019 season, which he could not round with a title, because he won the distinction only as MVP and Supporter’s Shield.
For the year of the pandemic, Vela was one of the players who decided not to participate in the special MLS is Back tournament for the health of her family, who welcomed her second child.
Eliminated in the 25th MLS tournament, LAFC and Vela sought revenge in the CONCACAF Champions League, leaving out Mexican clubs León, Cruz Azul and América. The hope was that Vela would again be a factor against Tigres, but unfortunately Carlos could not cope with Tuca’s heavy cars and gave up again, missing the opportunity to lift the first club title of his brilliant career.