The Columbus Crew’s CONCACAF Champions Cup run came to a disappointing end on Saturday night, falling to Pachuca 3-0. Columbus seemed lethargic from the jump, possibly due to suspected food poisoning and altitude, and would not recover enough to put up a fight. Pachuca cranked out three goals, exposing the Black & Gold’s backline time and again to cruise to another CONCACAF title. The Crew were not defeated by their illness alone though, Pachuca’s tactical setup going forward was fatal for Columbus. Let’s dive into all the tactics that went into this nightmare of an evening for the Black & Gold.

Pachuca’s defensive gameplan

Los Tuzos came out and blitzed the Crew from the first minute of the match. After Columbus got the initial chance to start off the game, it was all Pachuca for most of the match.

The first major problem for the Black & Gold was Los Tuzos’ pressure when the Crew had possession. Columbus have faced teams who like to press high up the field before, but they have never struggled as much as they did down in Mexico. Pachuca’s press was stifling, resulting in chance after chance in a very one-sided final.

Pachuca preferred to press with six players, leaving a back four to clean up any long balls the Black & Gold would try and play forward. Los Tuzos put five players across the field up top, trying to bottleneck the Crew’s back three and the two defensive midfielders.

The interesting thing about Pachuca’s press was the way they pressured the ball. They knew Columbus could get into rhythm and pass around them if they pressed instantly on the possessing player’s first touch. They also knew that if they sat back, the Black & Gold would play the ball around them all day, waiting them out until they make a mistake.

So, to counter this bold Crew possession plan, Los Tuzos decided to “blitz” the ball holder at random, up to the player’s discretion. This threw off Columbus’ rhythm and made them play passes off their normal timing, which forced multiple turnovers.

This pressure caused the Black & Gold to have little to no real positive possession that they turned into attacking chances. All three attackers for the Crew were seemingly non-factors because they could not receive the ball. If they did receive the ball, they had no support because the defenders were just getting out of Pachuca’s stifling press.

Another key factor of Los Tuzos’ press was their ability to cut off Columbus’ passing lanes. Pachuca knew the Black & Gold liked to possess with the three centerbacks and both defensive midfielders. Knowing this, they positioned the five players up top to cut off the passing lanes up the line to the wingbacks and inside to the defensive midfielders.

Behind the five pressuring players up top, Pachuca kept one “rover” midfielder deeper to pick off any possible long balls into Diego Rossi, Cucho Hernandez and Alexandru Matan if they tried to receive the ball to feet. If multiple runners came into the midfield, the defenders would help that roaming midfielder to not allow a counterattack.

Pachuca’s defensive gameplan decimated the Crew. Columbus had only 11 shots compared to Los Tuzos’ 23, and only got three of those attempts on target. It was an offensive night to forget for the Black & Gold, which has not happened very often under Wilfried Nancy.

Pachuca’s offensive gameplan

Pachuca’s defensive brilliance was not the only side of the ball that shined for the eventual champions. Without VAR intervention and moments of Patrick Shulte standing on his head, Los Tuzos could have scored five or six goals on the night.

The name of the game for Pachuca was attacking the Crew where they left space. It sounds easy, but in a three centerback system like Columbus enjoys running, the space is usually on the flanks in front of the wingbacks.

Los Tuzos recognized this, so they devised an offensive gameplan to create space behind and attack the Black & Gold in transition. They wanted to catch the wingbacks higher up the field and then exploit the centerbacks in transition.

Now, this is easier when a team’s press is working, which Pachuca’s was. Defense quickly would turn into offense, but it’s one thing to create chances, it’s another to finish them.

Pachuca’s first tactic was to try and get the Crew to overcommit to one side. Columbus is usually a team who likes to press and re-press, but they did not pressure with the fervor they usually do on Saturday night. This allowed Los Tuzos to have more time on the ball and get the Black & Gold to step right into their trap.

The easiest way to get the Crew to overcommit was to possess the ball out wide. The wide areas are where Columbus likes to ramp up defensive pressure because of the natural boundary of the endline. Pachuca saw their overcommitment coming and would quickly play a long ball to the other side of the pitch and then attack on the inside, taking both Darlington Nagbe and Aidan Morris out of the play.

With both defensive midfielders over shifted, Pachuca simply attacked the vacated space inside. This sucked in the wingbacks and centerbacks to deal with the oncoming attacker, which opened passing options for the player with possession.

 Even on 50/50 balls, Los Tuzos sent a secondary runner to clean up any loose possession that the Black & Gold defense did not clean up. Pachuca simply looked more powerful and strong than the Crew defense, and it showed.

Los Tuzos seemed to have every answer on offense for whatever Columbus tried to throw at them. Granted, the Black & Gold did not seem to change their defensive scheme very much, no matter how much it seemed to fail.

What could the Crew have done differently?

After the game, reports came out that the Crew experienced some kind of food poisoning or altitude sickness that caused the players and staff to have diarrhea. Did this play a part in the game? It sure seemed like Columbus looked slow, lethargic and not at all themselves. Pachuca still was the better team and deserved to win.

One changes the Black & Gold could have made was to bring on substitutes earlier in the match. When Jacen Russell-Rowe came into the match, he was a breath of fresh air to the Crew offense. His best moment resulted in hitting the crossbar from long range, but even his buildup play and runs opened up a whole new dimension for Columbus.

Another change would be to bring on Sean Zawadzki for Matan and put another body in the midfield to help the Black & Gold build out of the back and plug up the middle of the pitch. Zawadzki is one of those players who can be strong defensively, but also aid in the attack when the Crew got there. He came in eventually for Yaw Yeboah but played a hybrid wingback/midfielder role rather than just staying in the midfield.

Finally, the last change Columbus could have made was to sit the backline deeper to account for Pachuca’s attacking strength. It goes against Nancy’s bold style, but at some point, the Black & Gold had to face reality and try to scratch back into the game. If dropping the defensive line gave Los Tuzos more space to run at the defense, that would be preferred to having free runners in behind bearing down on Shulte.

It is a disappointing result for the Crew in a massive game, but they will take their licks and move on. MLS and Leagues Cup are still very much in play for Columbus, so they will need to move on quickly to stay on schedule. It was a bad night to have a bad night, but this is far from the end of the road this season for the Black & Gold.